Face Down
by classicdisneyFTW
Summary: Modern AU. He was perfect. In every way, he was the ideal prince charming. Too bad he was the physical form of that saying "if something seems too good to be true, it probably is". And it was almost too late before Anna realized it.
1. Day One

_Hello, my peeps! So, everyone seemed to enjoy my last story in the Frozen category. Like I said back there, I had several ideas floating around in my head in regards to that movie. This was another one. A bit more dramatic (hopefully) than the last one. I got the idea a while back while listening to the song "Face Down" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. (We'll see how consistent I am with updating it though since I do have a job now.)_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was Anna's first official day at college. Arendelle University. She was beyond excited. Ever since her older sister had started attending two years earlier, Anna had wanted nothing more than to follow in her footsteps. She had been cooped up in her house her entire life, homeschooled all through high school. Finally she had a chance to get out and meet real people. She didn't get to live out on her own like her sister, she still had to live at home. But Elsa only got to because she basically ran away and secluded herself after her first year at college. Elsa was... Elsa was a bit a distant.

Still, at least Anna got to get out and meet new people. Maybe she would even meet The One! Who could tell! Anna had never been on a date in her life and the thought of standing alone and suddenly meeting eyes with a tall, handsome stranger across the room thrilled her. Then he walks over, tall and fine, introduces himself, and they spend the entire night talking and laughing. Then he asks to see her again. And then after some time of midnight call-ups, romantic dinners, and movie cuddle nights, he eventually proposes on bended knee, declaring his eternal love, and they get married in the mountains under the colorful sunset with that pine tree smell and fresh mountain air!

Anna turned her attention to her schedule. "Economics 101- Weselton- 10:00" was first on the list. "Weaseltown?" she questioned to herself.

"Actually, it's Weselton," a voice spoke up behind her.

Anna started and turned. A short, round boy who looked like he had never seen the sun a day in his life stood behind her, grinning, holding a small white backpack in his hands.

"Don't worry, everyone does it. Just don't ever say it to his face," the kid said, slipping the backpack over his shoulders.

"Oh, thanks for the warning," Anna said.

"Yeah. He'll get soooo mad!" he told her, "One time he actually threw his toupee at this guy when he said it."

"He wears a toupee?" Anna asked.

The kid nodded. Then he grinned once more, "I'm Olaf, by the way."

"I'm Anna," Anna replied, sticking out her hand.

"Hi, Anna! One thing you need to know about me is that I love warm hugs," Olaf said, tilting his head and looking at her with bright eyes.

"Oh, okay," Anna said, lowering her hand and spreading out her arms, "Have at it!"

Olaf happily wrapped his arms around her middle and squeezed. Anna gave a small smile. He barely came up to her chin. He was like a little, chubby kid who just loved everybody. She could tell.

He let her go. "It was great to meet you, Anna!"

"You too. Um, I'll see you around, I guess," Anna said, she wasn't really sure if she would or not, but it seemed like a good thing to say, "And thanks again for the warning about 'Weaseltown'."

He giggled. "Aw, no no problem," he replied, then he turned to leave, "Bye!"

He practically skipped away. Anna smiled after him. Well that was a good first encounter, she supposed. He was so happy and nice. She hoped she would meet more like Olaf. She turned to enter the building where her first class was located.

It was the most enormous building she thought she had ever seen. How was she supposed to find just one class inside such a massive structure? She should have asked Olaf for directions. Nevertheless, she marched inside optimistically. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe it would be one of the first doors when she walked in.

So much for hoping for an easy find. Doors upon doors upon doors! And students were everywhere rushing every which way. Not to mention several staircases going in every direction. Anna looked at her watch. She still had fifteen minutes. There was still time to sort all this out. She had time to find one classroom... Right?

She bravely marched forward into the hullaballoo of rushing students. She tried looking at some of the doors, looking for the room numbers, but it was hard to get a good view of them. She did manage to spot a room 113. No good. She was looking for a 404. She wasn't even close!

Where was she supposed to go? She didn't even know which direction to take. She would probably end up on the other side of campus and not even realize it. Was she even in the right building?

Students were bumping into her left and right, knocking her about, and not even realizing it (or maybe they were and just continued to rush past. Rude!). Anna was not a particularly large person and was struggling to keep her balance with all the pushing and shoving.

Suddenly, something very large and heavy crashed into her. She toppled backwards, arms flailing sending her schedule and binder flying out of her hands. She landed squarely on her behind, feet sprawled out in front of her.

"Ow!" she groaned, reaching back for her now very tender tailbone.

Now pushing and shoving was one thing, but full on knocking someone off their feet was another! She was ready to give whoever had done this a piece of her mind. She glared up at them. "Excuse you!" she cried out.

She suddenly became speechless as her eyes met with to most sunning set of green eyes she had ever seen in her entire life. The owner, a tall guy wearing a gray jacket and dark blue backpack, was staring down at her with concern. "I am so sorry!" he said, "Are you hurt?"

As if his eyes weren't enough. His _face_. His face was gorgeous! His high cheekbones, low-set eyebrows, perfectly sculpted lips, a nose that was perfectly proportioned with the rest of his face... she could go on! But at the moment, she had to reply to him.

"I, uh... no, no," she stammered slightly, a bit flustered, "I'm fine, I'm okay."

He bent down and began to pick up her binder and schedule for her. "Are you sure? That looked like a pretty hard fall."

"Yeah, yeah! I just wasn't looking where I was going because I was trying to find my class and then, you know," she said, "But it's fine. I'm great."

He handed her things to her. "I can help you find your class if you'd like," he said, smiling. Wow, that was one a dashing smile. So many pearly whiles there.

Anna returned the smile. "Sure," she said coyly.

They began to walk through the crowd of students.

"Is it always this busy?" Anna wondered.

"Well this is the Castle Building. It's the main center. Usually in the morning, especially at the beginning of the year when everyone's trying to find their classes, it gets pretty crazy," he explained. He paused, "So the way it works here, and in practically every building for that matter, is that the first number of the the room number is the floor number. Like a hotel. So if your room number is...?"

"404," Anna replied.

"404. Then your class is on the fourth floor."

Anna nodded. That would make it much easier now. Hopefully she wouldn't have to go through so much trouble trying to find her other classes.

"Oh. By the way, my name's Hans South," her escort suddenly spoke up.

Anna nodded, drinking in everything about him. The name just suited him perfectly. But then it dawned on her that he was expecting her to introduce herself as well. He had said his last name. Did that mean she had to also? She guessed so. "Um, I'm Anna Fjord."

He smiled at her. But then, it slowly faded and he peered closely at her. "Wait, Fjord?" he asked.

"Yeah," Anna said, confused, "Why?"

"Are you, by any chance, related to Elsa Fjord?" he wondered.

Okay, she had not expected that. "Yeah, actually," Anna replied, "She's my sister."

"Oh, okay," he said nodding, "I thought the name sounded familiar."

Anna raised her eyebrows. "Wow, I didn't think anyone knew my sister," she said, "She's such a recluse."

Hans smiled. "Yeah, actually lots of people know her. She used to come around here a lot, but then suddenly for some reason she just disappeared."

"So did you like... talk to her?"

"Once or twice," he replied, "I just remembered her because she had stunningly platinum blonde hair. I had never seen anything like it."

"Oh I know! I don't know where she gets it! Everyone in my family has dark hair," Anna said.

"Yours isn't very dark," he remarked.

Anna eyed one of the braids hanging at the side of her head. "Well red is definitely no platinum blonde."

Hans smiled again. "You know, I've always liked a redhead."

Anna felt herself blush slightly. "Well your hair's kind of red, isn't it?"

Hans shrugged. "I guess," he replied, "But yours is a better red by far."

"But it's not totally red," she said, blushing again, "I mean, it's like a brownish red. And what about this random streak of white?"

Hans suddenly looked around to her other side. "I didn't even notice that," he remarked, "Wow. How did that happen?"

"I was born with it," Anna replied, "Although I dreamt I was kissed by a troll."

Ugh. She did not just say that she dreams about trolls, especially _kissing_ trolls to a stunningly gorgeous guy. But he just chuckled. "Here's your class," he said.

Anna finally looked away from him and to the door he was pointing at. 404, yep that was it. How did they get there so fast?

"I guess this is where I leave you," Hans said.

"Yeah," Anna sighed.

"But I'll see you later," Hans said.

He would? Would they actually see each other again? "Yeah?" Anna asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Hans replied, smiling, "Have fun in class."


	2. English Class

Second day, which meant more classes to find. Anna looked at her schedule. Next up on the list: "English- Oaken- 12:45".

After Hans's advice from the previous day, she had a much easier time locating all her classes so far. Anna walked through the small green door into her English class.

More like a lecture hall! Anna was taken aback by how enormous the room was. All her classes so far had been in regular-sized classrooms with tables and/or desks with chairs and everything. But this was more like an auditorium! Stairs led up to more seats in the back. The further back you wanted to go, the higher up you went. Like a movie theater.

At the front, an enormous white board covered the entire wall. Students were slowly trickling in and finding seats up and down the stairs, simultaneously mingling with one another.

As Anna took in the sights around her, she suddenly heard a voice behind her. "Anna! You're in this class too!?"

Anna turned and found Olaf standing behind her, grinning. "Olaf!" she replied, smiling at the sight of him, "Yeah, Oaken, English."

"Oh! As if this day could not get any better!" Olaf declared doing a little happy dance, "Come on! Let's go find a seat!"

He grabbed her arm and began pulling her towards the stairs. Anna gave a small giggle at his enthusiasm. "Alright, I'm coming!" she said happily.

They found a seat in the middle with a good view of the front. As they sat down, Olaf leaned over to her, "So I never asked, what semester is this for you?"

"My first," Anna replied, "I'm a freshman."

"Really? Awesome!" Olaf exclaimed, "I'm a sophomore myself."

Anna glanced around the room again. "So is this supposed to be like a combination of all years English class or something?" she wondered.

"Ha! No, but I'm pretty sure there's only one or two freshman English classes offered per year, so if you aren't lucky enough to get a spot your first year, you have to keep trying for years to come," Olaf replied. He reached into his bag and pulled out a slip of paper, his schedule, and showed it to her. "See? I have two English classes this year."

"Huh. Isn't that sort of... inconvenient?" Anna asked.

"Yep," Olaf replied brightly, "But the more years you miss, the higher chance you have of getting into the class."

Anna furrowed her brow. "So it basically _is_ a combo class... just teaching freshman material."

"Mm-hmm," Olaf replied, "But don't worry. Most people manage to get in by sophomore year. Only those super lazies who don't even try are here their junior or senior year... or even _beyond_." He widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows, looking at Anna dramatically.

Anna smirked. "Well I'm glad we both made it into the non-lazy category then."

"You're darn right!" Olaf said, grinning. He held up his hand for a high-five. "To the non-lazies!"

"Non-lazies!" Anna agreed, high-fiving him.

Just then the class fell silent. It was like a spell was cast over the entire room. Anna and Olaf looked around, confused. What was going on? Their eyes fell to the front of the room, where a large man stood in front of the white board. Large doesn't even begin to describe it. He was probably close to seven feet tall... if not more. It was hard to tell from this distance. He had a round, pudgy red face and flaming red hair to match, including a bushy mustache. The entire class was staring at him, most likely drinking in his enormous size like Anna was.

Suddenly he spoke. "Hello!" He said in a cheery voice. He smiled up at the rows of students. "Welcome to English 101! I am Oaken, your professor. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

There was silence. He continued on. "We have quite a schedule for this year, but don't worry. We are going to have so much fun! Books, essays, and even poems! Who likes Shakespeare?"

Some people raised their hands. Based on his appearance, one would not expect him to be so... jolly. He was like a giant, red-headed Santa Claus.

"Oh, and we must not forget our fairytale section," Oaken continued, "That always seems to be one of people's favorites. It's definitely mine. I love fairytales! Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Perrault, Joseph Jacobs, and so many more!"

Anna perked up slightly at the mention of fairytales. She grew up reading them. They were her favorite. She had a book thicker than the dictionary just filled with them back home that she always read every night when she was younger. She clasped her hands together and smiled to herself. She might really enjoy this class.

Then she realized that Oaken was looking at someone sitting near the back. She looked back as well and saw someone raising their hand. "You have a question?" Oaken asked.

The boy raising his hand lowered it and crossed his arms. "What do you mean by "fairytale section"?" he asked.

"I mean we will be reading and analyzing fairytales for about three weeks. What makes a fairytale a fairytale? What are some of the famous ones? What is some of the symbolism and meaning behind some of them? At the end of it, you will each write a fifteen page analysis on a fairytale of your choosing," Oaken explained.

The boy scoffed. Oaken furrowed his brow. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"Well, it's just... fairytales," the boy said.

"What about fairytales?" Oaken asked.

"They're _fairytales_," the boy said distastefully.

"Not all fairytales are about princesses and magic, young man," Oaken said, face hardening, "You'd do well to remember that and respect them."

Anna looked back at the boy in the back. He glanced at the other boy sitting beside him and muttered something. Oaken raised his voice, "Something else you'd like to say?"

The boy looked at him, his surprised expression slowly turning to defiance. "I was just saying that I think it's ridiculous that we'll have to write fifteen whole pages on a stupid fairytale," he said.

Anna turned her head back to Oaken. He seemed to really love his fairytales. How was he going to take that comment? She saw his face harden even more than it already had. He rested both of his hands on his desk and stared up at the boy. "What did you call them?" he asked slowly.

Anna looked back at the boy once more. He almost looked afraid of the stoic expression on the large professor's face, but he remained firm in his statement. He looked him square in the eyes and repeated firmly, "Stupid... fairytales."

There was an audible gasp in the room as everyone slowly turned to look back at Oaken. He just stared at the offender, stone-faced for a long moment. Everyone was silent and tense, wondering what he was going to do.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, he broke his stare and walked around the desk. He marched up the stairs and right to the boy's side. He grabbed him by the back of his jacket and began pulling him down the stairs. "Ow! Hey! What are you-? Ow!" the boy protested, just barely managing to pick up his backpack before it was out of reach.

Oaken dragged him down the stairs and towards the door. "You can have opinions. That's what an English class is all about, but have some respect!" Oaken grumbled as he pulled.

He opened the door and shoved the boy out into the hall. "Bye-bye!" he called in his old jolly voice, "Come back when you've learned some common decency!"

He shut the door and returned to the front of the classroom, everyone's eyes following him. He cleared his throat. "Now, the section after fairytales mostly covers poems..." he said. And he went on explaining the course as if the entire encounter with the fairytale-hating boy had never even happened.

Well, this class ought to be interesting.


	3. A Tutor

"Two weeks in and I already need a tutor!" Anna exclaimed.

Olaf looked over at the paper Anna was fretting over. Her second math test. 64% with a note from the professor: "Possibly get a tutor before you fall behind".

"I got a C on the first one though!" Anna protested, pulling out her last math test.

Olaf looked at it. "No you didn't," he said, "69% is a D+."

"Ugh!" Anna whined, tossing both papers aside and plowing her head onto the face of the desk with a loud thump.

"Shh!" Olaf said, "This is the library after all!"

Anna just groaned in response.

"A tutor's not so bad," Olaf said, "You can make a new friend!"

Anna turned her head, her cheek still resting on the table. "Who makes friends with their tutors?" she asked, "Aren't they paid?"

"Yeah. But you still could," Olaf said, grinning, "It could be loads of fun!"

Anna scoffed and sat up straight again, resting her chin in her hand, resigned. "You're right," she said, sighing, "I'll give it a try."

"Good for you!" Olaf said, "I'm pretty sure you sign up or apply at Student Services in the Castle Building."

Anna nodded. "I guess I'll do that later then."

"Great!" Olaf exclaimed, turning back to book, "Now what do you think Thoreau means by "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."?"

They spent a good hour going over their homework together, sharing ideas, comparing answers, etc. before they finally packed up and left the library, burned out.

"Have you tried seeing your sister yet?" Olaf wondered.

"No," Anna replied.

"Why not?" Olaf asked innocently, "I thought you said you wanted to see her last week."

Anna sighed. "I did. It's just... well, Elsa's a bit... I don't know. You wouldn't understand."

"Why don't we go see her right now?" Olaf suggested.

"What?" Anna asked.

"Yeah! Why not? We've both got time on our hands. Let's go see your sister!" Olaf exclaimed.

"Oh, uh... I don't think that's such a good idea," Anna said, "She doesn't really like people..."

"Come on. It'll be great! When was the last time you saw her?" Olaf asked.

"A year and a half ago, but..."

"And don't you want to see her again?"

"Well, yes..."

"Every minute you spend saying "I'll do it tomorrow" is just another moment wasted. Another moment added onto that year and a half."

"I know, but..."

"So don't you think now is as good a time as ever to put an end to it?"

Anna sighed. Then she took a deep breath. "You're right," she said, "I should just do it."

"Yes!" Olaf said, grinning, "So come on! Let's go!"

Elsa lived a few blocks away in an older apartment complex, The Frozen North. The two friends walked there, side by side until they approached the rusty white gates. Fortunately they were not in a car and were able to simply walk around them through the brush at the side.

"Do you know what room she's in?" Olaf wondered.

"53," Anna said.

They found the room at the far end of the complex. The windows were shut and the blinds were down. There was even dust on the windowsill, visible from where they stood. There was no sign that anybody even lived there. Who knew if Elsa was even home.

"Go ahead, knock," Olaf encouraged.

Anna raised her fist and took a deep breath. This was it. After all this time, she was finally going to see her sister. What would it be like? Would Elsa be happy to see her? Would she invite her in? Should Anna give her a hug? Would she want that? It had been so long, maybe it would be awkward.

"Aren't you going to knock?" Olaf's voice broke through her thoughts.

Anna realized she was still standing in front of the door with her fist raised. She pounded on it three times and stepped back, waiting anxiously. Nothing happened.

She rocked back and forth on her heels, hands clasped behind her back, waiting as patiently as possible, but still nothing happened. Maybe she didn't hear the knock?

Anna tried again, this time a little louder. She stood back once more. Still, nothing happened. Anna felt her spirits dropping.

"Maybe she's not home," Olaf suggested.

Anna sighed. "Yeah... maybe," she said, dejected, "Let's go."

They turned to leave, but suddenly a clicking noise forced them to look back. The door handle was jiggling. Anna rushed back to the door, watching it hopefully.

It opened ever so slightly. The silver chain was still locked over the gap. Suddenly, an eye appeared. "Who is it?" a timid voice spoke from behind the door.

"Elsa? Is that you?" Anna asked, peering into the crack in the door.

"Anna?"

Anna could not see anything except for one large blue eye, but she recognized it as Elsa's indefinitely. She smiled at the eye. "Oh, Elsa! It's been so long!" she exclaimed.

"Anna, what are you doing here?" Elsa asked.

"I came to see you," Anna replied, "I've missed you."

Elsa looked down for a moment. "I've missed you too," she said quietly.

"So why don't you come out?" Anna asked, "Look, I brought a friend."

Anna gestured to Olaf behind her. Olaf gave a wave. "Hi, I'm Olaf! And I like warm hugs!"

Elsa looked away. "I can't," she said.

"Why not?" Anna asked, reaching out to her, "If you just-"

"I just can't!" Elsa snapped, "Now please, just go away!"

Anna lowered her hands, crest-fallen. The door closed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anna took another large bit of her donut as she marched down the sidewalk. Custard spurted out the sides, but she didn't care. Her encounter with Elsa was still replaying in her mind and quite frankly it was really bothering her. It was the first contact they had made in over a year and she had told her to go away. Why? What had happened to make her so reclusive and afraid? Had Anna done something?

Anna reached the Castle Building and half-consciously made her way inside through the wild throng of students, still munching on her donut. What if she _had_ done something? Something so horribly awful that Elsa never wanted to see her again? ...But she _did_ say that she missed her. So why didn't she just come out? Or at least talk to her?

She suddenly became aware that she had reached Student Services. She didn't even look at the person sitting behind the counter, still mostly focused on Elsa. "I'd like to sign up for a tutor," she muttered as she took another large bite of her donut.

"Anna?"

At the sound of her name, she suddenly looked up. Much to her surprise, Hans sat behind the desk, name-tag and all, smiling at her.

"Han-th," Anna said with a mouth full of donut.

He watched her, still smiling as pleasant as ever as she struggled to swallow her mouthful. She finally managed to empty her mouth and looked up at him, smiling as well. "Hi!" she said.

He chuckled slightly and pointed to her cheek. "Uh, you got a little..."

"What?" Anna reached up to the spot he was pointing at and felt custard smeared across her cheek and lip. "Oh!" She turned away while she tried to wipe it away. Seriously, could she look like a bigger idiot in front of _him_ of all people?

She turned back once more. "Hi!"

"Hi," he said, "A little hungry, I see."

"Oh that. I passed a donut shop on my way here and they had some donuts and I was feeling kind of down and I always eat when I'm upset so I bought one to eat on my way over, but then I didn't expect to see you. Not that I mind eating donuts in front of you, it's just..."

"You were upset?" Hans asked.

"Oh, yeah. It was nothing really," Anna replied, "I just tried to visit my sister, but she... didn't want to see me."

"I'm sorry," Hans said.

Anna nodded with a sigh.

"You could try again some other time," he suggested, "Maybe she was just having a bad day."

"Yeah, I guess," Anna said, looking down at her feet. But then she thought about it for a moment. Maybe if Anna showed Elsa that she truly _did_ care about her and honestly _did_ want to see her, she might eventually open the door! "Yeah... you're right. I should just keep trying. She should let me in eventually, right?"

"Absolutely!" Hans agreed.

Anna smiled at him. He was just as handsome as she remembered. And he popped into her mind more than she liked to admit. And now in his green vest with the school's crest embroidered onto it, it just brought out his stunning eyes even more.

"So uh, about your tutor?" Hans said after a moment.

Anna realized she had been staring and quickly looked away. "Oh yeah, right," she said quickly, flushing a deep red, "Um, it's for math."

"Ah. The ones who are in highest demand," Hans said, "Let me see what we've got."

He turned around and opened a drawer, sorting through files and papers. Anna watched his back as he sorted through them. "So, you're not a tutor?" she asked.

He laughed. "No. I just work the desk," he replied, "I can barely pass my own classes, much less show people how to pass theirs."

Anna laughed herself. "I know what you mean."

He finally turned back around. "Here you are," he said, "How does someone who got a scholarship for math sound to you?"

"Ha! Sounds like a perfect candidate," Anna answered.

Hans handed her a sheet of paper. "Fill this out," he said.

Anna quickly filled out the paper. It was just her contact information like what her name was, her address, email, and telephone number. She handed it back to Hans.

He looked over it. "Everything seems to be in order," he said, nodding.

"Yeah," Anna said suddenly dejected, realizing it was time for her to leave.

"Now fill one out for the tutor," Hans said, pulling out another paper.

Anna's head popped up in surprise. Hans was giving her a half smile as he pushed the paper towards her. He winked and stuck her first paper into his pocket.

Anna felt her stomach flip. She smiled back and took the paper. She quickly scribbled down her information once more, but was hardly aware of what she was doing. Her head was in too much of a buzz. She handed it back to Hans, doing her best to keep her smile to a minimum.

"You can expect a phone call within the week," Hans said, "...Or maybe two."


	4. Tutoring

Anna entered the small wooden door with 23 marked across the front of it. She checked the scrap of paper in her hand just to make sure. Yep. "Barnes Building, Room 23, 4:30". The lights were off inside. Anna felt around for a switch and quickly turned them on.

It was completely empty except for a few old-looking tables and banged up chairs lying on their sides around them. This was where she was supposed to meet her tutor? Well he wasn't here yet and it was two minutes past 4:30. Should she just wait for a few minutes?

She set a chair upright and sat on it. It was eerily quiet in the room and so bare. Like one of those asylum rooms with the white walls and no windows... except the walls and floor wasn't padded, but still. She began humming to herself in order to break the silence.

Five more minutes passed and still nobody showed up. Maybe she had heard him wrong. When he called the other day to set up a time, she had been busy cooking at the same time, so she might have misheard what he was saying. Maybe he was waiting for her somewhere else entirely. Because why would he want to meet in such a lonely, depressing room like this anyway?

Just as Anna was about to pull out her phone and make a call, the door opened. A tall, blonde boy in a black coat and beanie walked in with his head down. When he looked up at her, Anna was shocked to recognize him as the boy who had been thrown out of Oaken's class the other day for hating on fairytales.

He didn't smile or anything, just simply said, "You're Anna, I suppose?"

"Um, yeah," she said, "Kristoff?"

He nodded and walked over to her. He picked up a chair and set it up across the table from her. "Let's get down to business then."

Anna didn't move, she was still studying him, puzzled. _He_ got a scholarship for math? He didn't look like the book-smart type. He looked more like a football jock based on his build. He was rather large and stocky. Plus he did seem to have an attitude like those jocks on TV did, going off the show he made in english class.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Hmm? No. I was just wondering... why did we have to meet here? Why couldn't we have met at the library or something?" Anna asked.

"This is closer to my apartment," he said shortly.

"But don't most tutors meet in the library?"

"Yes."

"So why didn't you?"

"I told you, this is closer to my apartment."

"Don't you like to walk?"

"No."

"But you could meet so many fun people at the library!"

He just rolled his eyes.

Right. Okay, so he didn't seem like a big talker either. She would have to change that. There was a short silence as she tried to think of something.

"So... what year is this for you?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well I'd just like to know how much more advanced my tutor is than me," Anna replied.

"Junior," he replied.

"Oh really? My sister's a junior," Anna said, smiling.

"Hmm," he said with disinterest.

"Maybe you've met her."

"Doubt it."

"Elsa Fjord?"

"Nope."

"I guess that makes sense. I'm pretty sure she takes all her classes online. At least since her sophomore year. I just thought maybe you'd met her before that."

"No," he said shortly.

Anna paused for a moment. "I've already met lots of great people around since I started here."

He rolled his eyes once again. What was with him and doing that?

"Yeah!" she continued, "I made a friend on my first day. His name's Olaf. And then I met this amazing guy. I think he's going to ask me out. And..."

"Wait, wait. You _think_ he's going to ask you out?" Kristoff interrupted.

Whoa, hold up. Was he actually asking her a question now? Progress! Anna looked at him. "Well, yeah," she replied, "I gave him my number."

He smirked. "Do you have any idea how many guys just go around asking for girls' numbers, but then never call them? They have like a stack of random girls' numbers piled up in their closets. They just use them as bragging rights for their friends."

Anna frowned for the first time. "People don't do that."

"It's true."

"Well Hans is not like that," Anna said confidently, "He's a true gentleman. He'll call."

Kristoff raised his eyebrows. "He's probably got boat loads of girls just waiting for his call," he said.

"No," Anna said, crossing her arms defiantly and turning away from him.

"Waiting by the phone every day in anticipation," he continued.

"That is ridiculous."

"And you're just one in the long lineup."

"Unlikely."

"Plus he probably picks his nose."

Anna turned to look at him once more, caught off guard. "What?"

He was smirking. "And eats it."

Anna glared at him. Now he was just trying to annoy her... and it was working. "That's disgusting," she said.

He shrugged. "All men do it."

Anna wrinkled her nose. Then she glared at him again. "Okay look mister, I don't care what you say. Hans _will_ call. He said he would and I believe him. So that's that."

Just then, her phone rang. With a final scowl at Kristoff, Anna answered it. "Hello?... Why hello, _Hans_!" She threw Kristoff a "told you so" look. He just folded his arms over his chest and watched her stand up and pace about the room.

"Yeah, I'm great... No, it's fine. I've been busy anyways. It's not like I was waiting by the phone every day or anything." She saw Kristoff smirk.

"Am I _free on Friday_?" she looked at Kristoff once more, smiling cockily, "Yes, I believe I am... 6:00? Sounds great... Okay. See you then!"

She hung up the phone. Did that just happen? Was she really going to go out on a date with Hans South? It was too good to be true! She squealed and without any choice of her own, began to dance in place, caught up in her own excitement.

"Wow. You should really be on Dancing With the Stars," Kristoff deadpanned.

Anna immediately stopped dancing. "Shut up," she said, "I am going on a date with my own prince charming. I have every right to dance like a maniac. Even you cannot spoil my mood now."

Kristoff shook his head and Anna could have sworn she saw a small smile play across his mouth, but it was so quick, she couldn't be sure. "Well now that that is all over with, can we get to your math now?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, yeah, sure," Anna said, sitting down and grabbing her backpack, "Where do we start?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun was just peeking through the thick overcast that loomed over the sky. And Kristoff had thought it was going to rain. It practically always rained whenever he decided to go outside for anything other than class, story of his life, the outside hated him. But for some reason, the sun was coming out to say hello today.

He reached his apartment, unlocked the door, and entered. Tiny was the word to sum it up. One sofa covered in patches against the wall, a dilapidated kitchen on the other side, a blanket over the window used for a curtain, his roommate's sweatshirt thrown in the middle of the floor. Yep, that's what he called home.

Kristoff moved inside and picked up the sweatshirt lying on the ground and folded it. He was the housekeeper around the apartment. Even though the place was a dump, he still tried to maintain it. Only he and his one roommate were the ones that lived there. There was only one bedroom with one creaking bunk bed. Kristoff slept on the bottom and every night he was always afraid that maybe the poles would give away and his roommate would fall down and crush him flat.

A head covered in shaggy brown hair popped out of the bedroom. "Oh Kristoff! You're home!"

"Yeah. Just," Kristoff answered. He held the sweatshirt out, "What have I told you about leaving your things in the middle of the floor?"

His roommate, Sven, stepped out of the room sheepishly and took the sweatshirt from him. "Sorry," he said, "At least it wasn't my backpack and everything this time, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Kristoff muttered, turning away and sitting on the couch.

Sven came up beside him. "So how was tutoring?" he asked.

Kristoff shrugged.

"Are you going to stick with this one this time?" Sven wondered.

"I don't know," Kristoff answered.

Sven's mouth formed into an "O" and he sat down beside him. "That's different. You normally say "no" right away. You should stick with this one if they don't repel you right away!"

"Maybe," Kristoff said.

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes!" Sven insisted, "Do it! This could be the first person that my dear friend Kristoff does not hate on sight! It's a miracle! You like them! I have to meet them!"

"Please, Sven," Kristoff scoffed, "I do not _like_ her."

"Oh it's a _her_, is it?" Sven asked, "Kristoff, I've known you since... what? First grade? I know when you're lying."

"Okay, okay. Fine. She kind of amused me," Kristoff said.

"_Amused_ you?"

"Yeah."

"What are you Shakespeare?"

Kristoff frowned at him. "Look, all I'm saying is that I think I'll give it another go to see how I feel about the arrangement before I make my final verdict."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_I was really debating about what to do with Sven. Several things went through my mind, but I finally just decided to make him human and Kristoff's roommate as an ordinary guy without any handicaps or unusual traits or anything. I hope it satisfies. _


	5. First Date

Anna approached the door. Room 53. She raised her fist and knocked three times. "Elsa?" she called.

There was no answer. "Elsa!" she called again, "It's me, Anna."

Still, there was no answer. "I'm just here to tell you that... I've got a date!" Anna continued, "He's super nice and unbelievably good-looking. Like, wow! And he asked me out. He's picking me up in like a half hour. We're going... actually I don't know where we're going. But I'm sure it'll be amazing. Just think, my first date ever and it's with the perfect man!"

The door remained closed. Anna wasn't sure if Elsa could even hear her, but she was determined to let her know that she cared and wanted her in her life. "Anyways, just thought I would let you know," Anna said, "I'm going to go get ready. I miss you!"

She turned and walked away from the door. Every day she visited Elsa's apartment and gave her an update on what was happening. One time she brought her a plate of cookies- double chocolate chip, those were her favorite- and left them outside the door. They were gone the next day, so she must have been listening to her at least some of the time, right? ...Or maybe she just found them. In any case, at least she was aware that Anna was coming by.

Once Anna got home, she immediately began to fret over what to wear for her date. Should she wear pants or a skirt? Casual or formal? Where were they going? She wished she knew so she could dress appropriately. In any case, she knew she would have to look her best. She didn't want to him to show up at her door with her looking like a slob.

She eventually decided on a green skirt and black top. Not too formal, but just a step above casual school-wear. She looked at herself in the mirror and gave a little twirl. Her skirt fanned out beautifully around her and she decided she was satisfied.

Just as she was finishing twisting her hair up into an elegant bun, there was a knock at the door. No one else was home, so she quickly stuck the last pin into her hair and rushed to the door.

There was Hans, holding out a bouquet of flowers, grinning with his oh-so dashing smile. "I know this is probably completely cliche," he said, "But I couldn't resist."

Anna took the flowers from him. "Thank you! They're beautiful. No one's ever given me flowers before."

"Really?" Hans said, sounding surprised, "Well I'm glad I could change that."

"Let me just put these in water," Anna said. She turned back into the house. She went into the kitchen and began searching the cupboards for a vase. She finally found one on a shelf above the refrigerator. She filled it with water and stuck the flowers into it. She set it on the counter and just stared at them, smiling, pleased.

Then she suddenly remembered... "Hans!"

She rushed back to the door. She opened it and found Hans still standing there on the porch, looking rather confused.

"I am so sorry!" she said, "I didn't mean to take so long! I should have invited you in or something."

Hans laughed. "It's fine. I always like being left out in the cold by women I'm about to take out."

Anna cleared her throat and chuckled nervously. She met his eyes. "So... where exactly are we going?" she wondered.

He smiled. "Town," he answered, holding out his arm.

Anna wrapped her arm around his. "Town?" she repeated.

"Mm-hmm," he replied, "I thought we'd walk down town and take a look at the sights to see, maybe find a good place to eat, look in shops. That sort of thing. Not too boring, is it?"

Anna grinned at him. "No! It sounds great! I've never really been into town before."

"Great!" he said, "And I know the perfect place to start. There's this fantastic little sandwich shop just a few blocks down. You'll love it!"

"Ooh! I love sandwiches!" Anna exclaimed.

"Me too!"

"They're my favorite."

"Seriously? Mine too."

"Of course, chocolate takes the cake though... Or rather, _is_ the cake."

Hans smirked. "Did you really just say that?"

Anna shrugged. "Err, well, sometimes my mouth runs away with me."

"So I've noticed," Hans said.

Anna blushed a deep crimson. Why did she always have to make herself look like such a confounded idiot in front of him? Hans noticed her embarrassment and quickly added, "I think it's cute."

Anna looked back at him, smiling coyly.

After walking for a short time, Hans pointed ahead. "Here's the sandwich shop."

Not too far in front of them sat a small shop with a blue neon sign reading, "Buck and Lee's Sandwiches" over the top. They began to make their way towards it.

"So how do you know this place?" Anna wondered.

"Well, my dad's in politics," Hans explained, "I used to have to wait for him to get out of some big important meeting or whatever in the Town Hall just over there."

He pointed across the street. Anna looked at it. "Isn't that where foreign ambassadors meet?"

"Yep."

Anna looked at Hans once more, surprised. "Is your dad a foreign ambassador?"

"Diplomat, actually," Hans replied, "All the way from Norway."

Anna looked at Hans in a new light. "Wow. So you're like... not American?"

Hans smirked. "Yes. I'd say that was an accurate assertion."

"Sorry. It's just, you don't even have an accent or anything."

Hans shrugged. "Well, we actually lived here for the first eight years of my life. I grew up here. I guess, it took care of my accent. I liked it here so much that I came back for college."

He opened the door to the sandwich shop. "M'lady," he gestured for her to enter first.

Anna smiled and walked in. It was small, like a fast food joint, but not dirty or unkempt. They approached the counter. "Hello, what can I get ya?" the girl behind the counter asked.

"I'll have a regular sized turkey with everything on it, but no onions" Hans replied, then gestured to Anna, "And she'll have..."

"A large roast beef with everything," Anna immediately said, "Also could you add avocado? Oh, and bacon? Oh, and possibly some ham and turkey? ...and extra cheese?"

Hans looked at her, surprised. "What?" Anna asked.

"Nothing. I just didn't expect someone so small to eat so much," he replied.

Anna raised her eyebrows. "I told you. I love sandwiches."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Okay, wait. So this is your first date _ever?" _Hans asked, pushing away his sandwich wrapper, long since finished.

"That's what I said," Anna replied.

"So that means you've never been kissed or anything?" he asked.

"Ah, ah. It's my turn now," Anna said, "What is... your worst childhood experience?"

Hans puckered his lips, thinking for a moment. "Well, I have twelve older brothers..." he began.

"You have _how many?_" Anna cried, incredulous.

"Twelve," Hans repeated, "Yeah, I know. Mom and dad went a bit crazy. Anyways, two of them literally pretended that I was invisible for two years of my life when we were growing up. Horrible way to live, really."

"That's awful," Anna said.

Hans shrugged. "That's what brothers do."

"And sisters," Anna said, "Elsa and I were really close once until she became, you know, a recluse. Now, every time I go to see her, she completely ignores me and shuts me out."

Hans took her hand and she felt her heart flutter. "Anna, I think she must be completely crazy for doing that. Also, I want you to know that I will never shut you out."

Anna looked up into his eyes. He smiled as he took her other hand. Her heart rate was off the charts now. "Um... i-it's your turn," she said, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

Hans scooted closer to her. "Okay," he said, "So, you really have never kissed anyone before?"

Anna could barely breathe as she forced herself to shake her head in response. Her stomach was doing somersaults and her head was spinning madly. She was barely conscious of Hans moving towards her. What was even happening? She might actually pass out!

But then his lips were on hers and everything seemed to freeze. Time stood completely still as his lips gently moved against hers. She was floating on a cloud, lost in a wonderland. But then it was over too soon. He pulled back, leaving her completely breathless, and gave her a half smile. "Well?"

Anna grinned, "I think I might need another test." She grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him in for another kiss.


	6. Impossible

Kristoff drummed his fingers against the table. He looked at the clock. 4:42. Where was she? Was this revenge on him because he had been late last time? Would she really stoop down to such levels as to purposely being late just to spite him?

The door suddenly opened and in walked the girl in question. Anna beamed at him. "Sorry I'm late," she said, moving inside, "I was on the phone and lost track of the time."

She sat down beside him, eyes shining with absolute giddiness. Kristoff mentally rolled his eyes at himself, knowing he would probably regret asking the question coming out of his mouth, but he couldn't help himself, "And who, may I ask, were you talking to that has made you so bright and chipper?"

"My own prince charming, Hans," Anna replied, sighing dreamily.

Ah right, the guy she had been raving about last session. He smirked. "I take it your date went well then?" Why was he asking this? Now she was probably going to go off on a frenzied rampage about how wonderful it was.

"Were you expecting anything else?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, "Oh that's right. He's got lines and lines of girls just waiting on him, so he's probably just a second-rate dingbat who doesn't even know how to take a girl on a proper date, right?"

Alright, little miss sassy. "And he picks his nose," Kristoff added, suppressing another smirk.

Anna snorted. "Yeah. And eats it. Gross," she said, "Anyways, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that the date was fabulous. We went for walks, ate sandwiches, looked in shops. And he was a perfect gentleman the entire time. Not to mention he's an _amazing_ kisser. And he promised..."

"Whoa! You already kissed on the first date?" Kristoff interrupted.

Anna looked innocently up at him. "Well yeah," she said, "We were at the sandwich shop talking and, well, he kissed me."

Kristoff was staring at her incredulously. "How far into the date was it?"

Anna shrugged. "I don't know. We ate first. So maybe a half hour, forty five minutes."

"You kissed a guy only a half hour, forty five minutes into a date?" Kristoff asked, disbelieving.

"Well technically he kissed me," Anna replied, "Why are you so interested in my kissing habits?"

"It wasn't even a goodnight kiss on the porch or something," Kristoff was now basically muttering to himself.

"Well of course we kissed goodnight too!" Anna said, "What do you take me for?"

"If you _have_ to kiss on the first date, which you really shouldn't, it should only be the goodnight kiss," Kristoff said.

"What? Why?" Anna asked.

"It could ruin the relationship."

"Oh and you would know?"

"Yes. I would."

"You have personal experience in this area?"

Kristoff paused. "No..." he said finally, "But I've seen it happen dozens of times. In my family."

"Right, okay," Anna said, "Look it doesn't matter. It already happened and I still see a bright future ahead for us. He promised a second date tonight."

"Whatever you say," Kristoff said, smirking once more.

Anna shook her head. "You're impossible."

Kristoff raised his eyebrows and held up his arms sarcastically. "Hey, you guessed my nickname."

Anna snorted. "Really? Who else calls you that?"

"Anybody who meets me," Kristoff replied, sounding almost proud, "But mostly my roommate."

"Your roommate?"

Kristoff shrugged. "Well you think I'm impossible and you only see me for an hour once a week. Imagine if you had to live with me."

Anna cracked a small smile. "Absolute torment," she stated simply.

Kristoff gave a nod, holding back a smile of his own. "Right," he said. He looked at the backpack sitting at her side and cleared his throat, "Now are you going to get out your homework or not?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anna rushed to the front door and opened it. "Hans!" she cried happily.

He stood, smiling with his hands in his pockets. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yep! Let's go!" Anna said, shutting the door behind her and yanking him by the arm.

"Whoa! Slow down. Do you even know where you're going?" Hans protested from behind her.

Anna immediately stopped pulling his arm. "Sorry," she said, "I'm just a little flustered. I went to see Elsa again today as usual and she actually talked to me this time."

"Isn't that good?" Hans wondered.

"Not when she's telling you to go away and never come back," Anna said staring at the ground.

"What did you say before she told you that?" Hans wondered.

"I was just telling her I had another date tonight with the same guy as before," Anna said, "Then she suddenly opened the door and asked where we were going. Then after I told her, she told me to stop coming by for my own good."

"Hmm," Hans responded simply.

There was a short silence between them. Hans suddenly held out his arm. "Well let's not let it spoil the evening. Shall we?"

Anna wrapped her arm around his and they began walking once more, at a much slower pace than before. The cinema was not far from Anna's house, so they did not have to walk very far. Fortunately it was not crowded either. Not surprising since it was a Thursday and nothing earth-shatteringly interesting had been released lately.

"So what are we seeing?" Anna asked.

"Well let's see what's playing," Hans said, pointing.

They approached the sign with showtimes. They both studied it for a moment.

"Okay, it looks like there's only two options open to us if we want to get home at a decent hour," Hans said, "You did say you had to get up early tomorrow, didn't you?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah, unfortunately. Early morning class on Fridays. Blech!"

"Alright. Well our two options are Lucy's Letter or The Corpse Maze," Hans said.

Anna turned to look at the posters for the two movies Hans had just named. The first looked like some sort of mushy, sappy romantic flick, while the other seemed to be a horror, slasher, gore and violence film. Anna grimaced at the mere sight of the horror poster. Just the look in the eyes of the character on the poster holding the blood-soaked machete was enough to make her run for cover.

"Um, well, what do you want to see?" she asked.

"I think The Corpse Maze looks pretty good," Hans answered.

"Are... are you sure?" Anna asked, "It looks a little bloody and violent to me."

"Exactly why it looks interesting," Hans said, "Come on, it could be fun!"

Anna cleared her throat. "Couldn't we see a much happier film? Like that one?" She pointed to the poster for Lucy's Letter.

"Anna, do you know what would happen to me if I went into a movie like that?" Hans asked, "They'd revoke my man card."

"Yeah, but-"

"Anna, if you get scared, I promise you can hold onto me," Hans said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Scary movies are much better cuddle movies than that mushy stuff." He kissed her cheek.

Anna sighed. "Alright," she finally relented, "You have more experience, I guess."

He winked at her. "Great! I'll go get the tickets."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anna knew she was never going to sleep again. Ever. She had her eyes shut and her face buried into Hans's shoulder through most of the movie, but she could still hear the horrible noises. There was hardly ever a moment when someone was not bleeding or dying or getting their head chopped off or losing a limb or SOMETHING! And then with that crazy machete murderer while they were all trapped in that stupid, stupid maze! In short, Anna despised it.

She clung tightly to Hans's arm as they walked back to her place... in the dark... with noises all around... and sudden movements. Her eyes darted back and forth, just waiting for a machete-wielding maniac to come out of the shadows and attack them.

"So I was just thinking..." Hans suddenly spoke up.

"WHAT!?" Anna cried, turning back to him suddenly, "Where!? Why!? Is there something to worry about? Should I be thinking too?"

"Whoa there. Calm down," Hans said, "I was just thinking about something you said earlier."

"Oh," Anna said, relaxing slightly.

"I was thinking about what you said about your sister," Hans went on, a bit taken aback by Anna's outburst, "How she only ever responds when you talk about your dating life."

"I never said that," Anna said.

"Ah, but it was implied that she's interested," Hans pointed out, "So I was thinking maybe I could come with you on one of your visits and see if she wants to actually meet your boyfriend."

Anna looked up at him, eyes twinkling. "Boyfriend?"

Hans looked at her. "Well... yeah," he said, with a small smile, "Unless there's someone else?"

Anna stared at him in awe. Never in her whole life had she thought it possible to be in a relationship with someone like him. She shook her head. "No," she said softly.

Hans nodded, then pointed ahead. "Your house," he said.

It was then that Anna noticed that they had stopped walking and were standing directly in front of her home. "Oh, right," she said, swinging her arms like an awkward schoolgirl, "I guess I should go now. Um... goodnight. Tonight was... interesting."

"Yeah, what a movie, right?" Hans said.

"A lot of blood," Anna said.

"Yeah," Hans said, "Anyways, I'll call you."

"Okay, and I'll let you know about Elsa," Anna said.

"Sounds good." Hans leaned over and kissed her, long and slow. When he pulled back, Anna felt lightheaded.

"Good night," Hans said, turning away.

Anna teetered in place, watching him go. "G'night."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Just in case anyone didn't catch on, I completely made up those two movies, so don't go searching for them or anything._


	7. Monsters and Milkshakes

"This is where she lives?" Hans asked, eyeing the apartment complex as he and Anna approached, hand in hand.

"Yep. 53, The Frozen North," Anna replied, "She's been living here all by herself since her sophomore year."

"Does she ever leave?" Hans asked.

"I have no idea," Anna replied, "Not that I've seen. She must if she wants food... Unless she has it delivered or something."

They walked around the peeling white gate and towards the complex. Anna squeezed his hand. "Thank you for doing this," she said, "Hopefully it'll bring Elsa out. I'm sure she'll be very happy."

"Hey, no problem," Hans said, "I'm looking forward to meeting her."

They approached the door. "Here it is," Anna said, gesturing to the large silver "53" on the teal door.

Hans stood back. "Well, have at it," he said.

Anna took a breath and knocked three times. "Elsa?" she called out, "It's me! I'm just here to to tell you that I got a B- on that Economics paper I was talking about before. I guess _Weasel-town _doesn't hate me as much as I thought. Although he was pretty harsh on a lot of other kids in there. And I've got another math test tomorrow. So far there hasn't been any improvement in my past two tests, but I guess I'll just have to keep going to tutoring... even if that guy is a bit of a grump. Olaf says I should just stick it out because at least I haven't got an F on my tests since I started. I still get D's though!"

She sighed. She suddenly noticed Hans standing behind her and remembered. "Oh, Elsa, there's something else," she said, "You remember I've been telling you that I started dating this guy about two weeks ago? And how he's wonderful and amazing and everything? Well... he's here. I brought him here. To meet you."

Anna stared at the door expectantly. Nothing happened. She sighed and glanced back at Hans. "I told you she wouldn't come out," she said, down-trodden, "It was worth a shot though, right?"

She began to turn away, but then heard the door handle jiggling. Anna immediately turned back and rushed to the door. She saw Elsa's eye peek out. "You brought your boyfriend?" Elsa's voice floated out of the crack.

"Yes. Yes, I did!" Anna said, ecstatic that Elsa was interested. Maybe she would come out after all. Anna reached back, grabbed Hans's arm and pulled him forward. "Elsa, this is Hans South... my boyfriend. Hans, this is Elsa my-"

"No!"

Anna and Hans both looked at the blue eye peering out of the dark crack, confused. "What?" Anna asked.

"No. No! You can't! How could you!?" Elsa cried, "Just... just... stay away. STAY AWAY! I've told you! You... you MONSTER!"

"Elsa, but..." Anna began.

"No! Don't. Just... don't," Elsa said, and she slammed the door in their faces.

Anna and Hans stared at the door, shocked. "She... she called me a monster," Anna said quietly.

"I'm sure she didn't mean that," Hans said.

"Why would she get so upset like that?" Anna asked, barely registering his words.

"I don't know. Maybe she was just having a bad day," Hans suggested.

"I mean, she hasn't always been super receptive to me, but she's never been so..." she felt her eyes begin to sting and suddenly felt a bit nauseous, "I have to go."

Anna turned and ran, hot tears burning in her eyes, ignoring Hans's calls after her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kristoff sat at the desk, drumming his fingers and staring at the clock. Late again as usual. Would this be a common habit of hers?

The door suddenly burst open, making Kristoff jump slightly and Anna ran inside. Kristoff could clearly see her eyes were red and puffy as though she had been crying. Uh-oh. She sat down beside him and began to fumble with her backpack.

"Sorry I'm late," she said quickly as she began pulling things out of her backpack, setting up for tutoring "I had a little trouble this morning and I lost track of time."

"Are... you alright?" Kristoff asked.

"Yes! Of course I'm alright! Why wouldn't I be alright?" Anna asked.

"Well you did just hand me a tube of lipstick, and pulled out your Economics book instead of your math book," Kristoff responded.

Anna grabbed the lipstick and swapped it for a pencil, then began digging in her backpack once more.

"Did... something happen with Hans?" Kristoff wondered cautiously.

"No. No, everything's fine with Hans," Anna said. Then she threw her backpack down and buried her face in her hands, "I didn't bring my math book!"

She looked close to crying once more. Clearly she was not alright and Kristoff did not think it was over a math book.

He picked up her Economics book and stuck it back into her backpack. "Anna, come on. I know just the thing to cheer you up."

Anna looked through her hands. "What?" she asked, "But what about the math?"

"Forget about your math right now," Kristoff said, standing up, "The way you're acting right now, I don't even think you'd hear a word I'd try and teach you. Now come on."

Anna wiped the back of her hand under her nose, sniffling. "O-okay," she said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Here you go. Chocolate milkshake with extra whipped cream," Kristoff said, pushing a large cup towards Anna.

Anna took it as Kristoff sat down on the other side of the booth from her, holding his own cup. "Thanks," she said.

"I promise. The milkshakes here are guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face," Kristoff said, "Go on. Try it."

Anna took a long sip from her straw. As she swallowed the cold chocolatey goodness, she felt a small smile creep over her lips. She looked at Kristoff who was watching her expectantly.

"Well?" he asked.

"This is probably the best milkshake I've ever had in my life," Anna declared, and she went for another sip.

Kristoff grinned. "Didn't I say so?"

Anna nodded, still drinking her milkshake. She finished off half the glass before she finally looked at Kristoff again. He was casually drinking his own, watching her.

She wiped her mouth. "Thank you again," she said, "I feel a lot better. Chocolate always helps."

He nodded. "No problem," he replied. He was silent for a moment. "So... you didn't have a fight with Hans or anything?" he asked hesitantly.

Anna bit her lip. "No. Nothing with Hans. We're fine," she said, sighing, "It's my sister.

"Your sister?"

"Yeah. See, she lives all alone and I haven't seen her in over a year and a half and everyday I go and try to talk to her, but she hardly ever even opens the door, let alone acknowledges me. Anyways, I brought Hans with me today, hoping maybe she'd be happy for us and want to meet him. But she yelled at us and slammed the door in our faces."

Kristoff saw the sadness and hurt returning to Anna's eyes and feared she might begin crying once more. He pushed her cup towards her, "Milkshake, milkshake."

She took another long drink and stared at the table. "She... she called me a monster," she said, going for another sip.

"You're not a monster," Kristoff told her.

Anna looked up at him. "You know, that is probably the nicest thing you've ever said about me?"

The corner of Kristoff's mouth tweaked up. "Well I may be impossible, but I'm not stupid."

Anna felt a blush coming on. She fought it back and quickly said, "Well obviously not. You're a tutor."

"Being a tutor doesn't mean you're smart," Kristoff said.

Anna furrowed her brow. "Sure it does. You'd have to be in order to teach someone how to do something."

"Okay, it might mean you're like book-smart, at least in one area," Kristoff said, "But are you life-smart?"

"Life-smart? Is that even a word?" Anna asked, smiling slightly.

"It is now. Don't mock me while I'm trying to be deep," Kristoff retorted, holding back his own smile, "There are lots of different types of smart. Smart with books, smart in life, smart with people. You're lucky if you find someone who is smart in all areas. No one is. If you find someone who is, they're probably a fake."

Anna nodded, her mind trailing off to Hans momentarily. He was smart with people for sure, and in life. Was he with books? She remembered him saying something about barely being able to pass his classes, but he could have been exaggerating. Hmm... he must not be because otherwise he's have to be a fake like Kristoff said, right? Or else she was just lucky and actually did find the perfect guy.

She turned her focus back to Kristoff. "Well books are definitely my weakness, as you well know. Although I'm not sure if I'm all that smart in life either... or people... I'm a three package weakness!" she said, smiling, "What about you?"

Kristoff's face dropped slightly and he suddenly found an immense interest in staring at his milkshake. Anna leaned forward on her elbows. "Come on, I know you're book-smart. You got a scholarship in math for crying out loud," she encouraged, "So it can't be that."

Kristoff finally looked up at her. "People," he mumbled.

"What?" Anna asked.

"People," he said again, "I've never been good with people."

Anna saw genuine hurt in his face. "That's okay," she said, "Lots of people aren't good with other people."

"No, when I say I'm not good with people, I mean people can barely stand to be in my presence for very long. I don't know what it is. They just avoid me, and I don't know... I guess it's just sort of turned me into, well... this," Kristoff said, gesturing to himself, "Only my roommate, Sven, has stuck with me through the years."

"He can't be the only friend you have," Anna said.

"Yeah, actually," Kristoff said, staring coldly at his cup, "People don't like me."

"I like you."

Kristoff looked up at her and saw her smiling warmly at him. There was something about that smile, he could tell she meant it. She pushed his cup towards him. "Milkshake?"

He gave a half smile and took the cup. "Thanks," he said, and took a sip.


	8. The Assignment

"Off to Oaken's again!" Olaf sang, skipping at Anna's side.

"And you're happy about this?" Anna asked.

"Well, we're all finished with _Thoreau_," Olaf said the name dramatically, "So no matter what the next topic is, it's bound to be less dull than 'Walden'. It's a call for celebration in my book!"

Anna smiled. "Alright, whatever you say."

"That's the spirit!"

They entered the classroom, or lecture hall. Anna still was not used to the enormous size of it. Kids were filing in and finding their seats from both sides. Anna looked around and spotted Kristoff sitting near the back beside a boy with shaggy brown hair that hung over his eyes. He was not looking in her direction, so she was not able to wave like she had hoped to. She turned to Olaf.

"Hey, why don't we sit back there?" she said, pointing.

Olaf looked. "Okay!" he said happily, following after her as she began to make her way towards the back, "Why?"

"You can meet my tutor," Anna said.

Olaf gasped in excitement. "Your tutor!?"

They reached the back. The boy beside Kristoff noticed them first and stared, confused, prompting Kristoff to finally look up. "An-what? Er..." he stammered, surprised.

"Hi!" Anna said, smiling.

"Uh, hi," he said back, "What are you doing here?"

"I have class here," Anna answered.

"I know _that_. I mean, why are you back here?" Kristoff asked.

"Oh, well I thought maybe I... we," she gestured to Olaf, "Could come join you."

Kristoff raised an eyebrow, but after a second, he moved his books, vacating the seat beside him. "Sure," he said.

Anna grinned and sat beside him. Olaf took the seat next to her. "Oh, this is my friend, Olaf," Anna said, gesturing, "Olaf, this is Kristoff. He's my tutor."

"Hi!" Olaf said, grinning, "I like warm hugs!"

Kristoff gave a partial wave, taken aback slightly by Olaf's enthusiasm. He turned to the boy on his other side. "Um, this is Sven... my roommate," he said to Anna.

Sven leaned forward over the table so he could get a better look at Anna. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," she said back.

He smiled. "So you're Anna, huh?" he said, nodding slightly.

"Um, yes. Wait, how did you know my...?" Anna began.

"Oh, this guy here only talks about you all the time," Sven said, elbowing Kristoff, "He blabs for hours at a time."

Kristoff's face reddened and he scowled at him. "That's not entirely true," he said, "I've mentioned you a couple times, but I certainly do not "blab for hours at a time"."

Anna smiled at Sven. "I see. Anything else I should know?"

"What?" Kristoff said, looking back at her.

"Well I need to have confidence in my tutor," Anna replied, shrugging, "And Sven here seems to be willing to give me information."

Sven grinned mischievously. "Oh, if you insist," he said, "I've got the low down on Kristoff... Well first off, he sleeps with a stuffed moose..."

"It's reindeer," Kristoff interrupted.

"Ah-ha! See?" Sven said, pointing accusingly.

Kristoff crossed his arms. "What? Reindeers are very bold and majestic animals."

"Yeah, sure," Sven said, smirking, "Anyways, he also eats those giant carrots raw, whole. Like just takes a bite right out of it."

Kristoff frowned. "You do that too."

"Oh yeah. Not the point... Anyways, he also has no concept of personal hygiene."

"I don't think that's any secret, bud," Kristoff retorted.

Anna watched the two banter, amused while Olaf just watched, confused.

"Seems, you've got nothing really dirty on me after all, Sven," Kristoff said, smiling pompously.

"Kristoff is afraid of the dark!" Sven suddenly said quickly.

"What? I am not!" Kristoff cried, "If you've got nothing substantial, don't make stuff up!"

"He still wets the bed!" Sven added.

"Now you're just being desperate."

"He has a phobia of cars!"

Kristoff opened his mouth to reply, but froze. Instead, he threw Sven a dirty look and then stared ahead, stone-faced. Sven bit his lip, looking almost sorry he had said anything. Actually, he looked more like he wanted to disappear into the walls.

The sudden tension was killing Anna. She leaned forward towards Kristoff. "That's okay," she said gently, "I have a phobia of spiders."

Kristoff glanced at her. "Isn't that kind of typical for most girls?" he asked.

Anna narrowed her eyes. "No, you don't understand. I see a spider on my bed, I will run out of the room screaming and have someone else kill it," she said.

"Well that's not so..."

"And then promptly have the mattress burned."

Kristoff snorted. "What if you just see a spider say... on your kitchen floor? Then what?"

"Then I destroy the kitchen!"

Everyone laughed, Kristoff's sullen mood suddenly forgotten. Sven gave Anna a grateful glance and she smiled.

At that moment, the door opened and Oaken stepped in. "Good morning, class!" he greeted everyone.

"Morning," everyone chorused.

"Do I have some news for you!" Oaken said, "As you know, we have finished with Thoreau's _Walden_, which I hope you've all completed your essays for?"

There were murmurs of confirmation all around the room. "Good, good. If you would just stack them neatly on my desk before you go, that would be excellent," Oaken said, "Now, since we're finished with Thoreau, I suppose you're wondering what our next topic will be?"

There were a few grunts from the students, agreeing. Oaken rubbed his hands together. "Well, I wasn't going to do this quite yet, but I decided to bump it up sooner. Our next topic is going to be... fairytales!"

Some of the students began to mumble with one another at this announcement. "What? That's all I'm getting? No enthusiasm? No "hoorays"? No grumbles about _"stupid fairytales"?_" Everyone looked back at Kristoff. He held up his hands innocuously.

"Before we begin, I want to you to already begin thinking of which fairytale you will want to write your essay on," Oaken continued, "It will be due at the end of the section."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So what fairytale are you going to write your essay on?" Anna asked as she, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven all walked out of Oaken's classroom together.

"We're deciding already?" Kristoff asked, shifting his backpack on his shoulder, "It's three weeks away."

"I know, but Oaken did say to start thinking about it," Anna said.

"Ooh! How about Rapunzel? Olaf said, "With the long golden hair and the prince and stuff. Or Snow White! With the poison apple and the seven dwarves."

"Maybe something not with a princess," Sven said, "Like... Puss in Boots or Hansel and Gretel. Hey, Kristoff might like Hansel and Gretel. It's got a giant candy house."

"Just what are you implying?" Kristoff asked.

"Well, you're a big guy and all..." Sven said.

"It's true," Olaf piped up.

"You must have gotten that way somehow," Sven said.

"Are you saying I'm fat?" Kristoff asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No, no. Just... big," Sven said.

Kristoff rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said, smirking.

"I think I might like to do the Snow Queen," Anna said.

"Ooh! Doesn't that one have a reindeer in it?" Sven asked eagerly.

"Ah-ha! See, I'm not the only one who likes reindeer!" Kristoff pointed out.

"You two!" Anna reprimanded in good nature. She turned to Sven, "Yeah, it takes the main character to the Snow Queen's fortress to save her friend."

"Cool!" Sven said, grinning, "Be careful. I might steal that from you."

"Steal what?"

Everyone turned towards the new voice. Hans stood behind them, hands in his pockets. Anna's eyes brightened at the sight of him. "Hans!" she cried.

"Hey," he said.

He walked over to her and planted a big, passionate kiss right on her mouth. Kristoff and Sven looked away uncomfortably while Olaf just stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed as if he had never seen anything quite like it before.

Finally Hans pulled back, arm draped around Anna's shoulder. "So what's going on?" he asked.

Anna swallowed, catching her breath. "We were just talking about our new english assignment."

"Ah english. Nasty stuff. What is it? An essay?" Hans asked.

"Yeah. On a fairytale," Anna answered.

"Ohh, I remember that assignment," Hans said, nodding, "How many pages is it?"

"It's fif-" Anna began.

"Fifteen, right," Hans said, "I hated english class. Always have, actually. I remember taking your class a couple years back and just sulking the whole way through it."

"A couple years back? So your a...?" Kristoff asked.

"Senior," Hans answered.

Kristoff nodded, crossing his arms. There was something about this guy that was rubbing him the wrong way, and by the way that Sven was looking at him, it seemed he was thinking the same.

"And you are?" Hans asked, still looking at Kristoff.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Anna finally spoke up again, "Hans, these are my friends, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf... Guys, this is my boyfriend, Hans."

Everyone mumbled their hellos. Hans nodded at them, then turned back to Anna. "So anyways, I need to get going," he said, "I'll pick you up at 6:00?"

"Oh um... actually I have this Economic test I should probably study for..." Anna said.

"An Economics test? Really? You'd rather study for some dumb test rather than go out to the pier with _moi_?" Hans said putting on his biggest grin.

Anna gave a half smile. Then she closed her eyes and scrunched her face. "Okay, fine!" she said, opening her eyes.

"Great! I'll see you at six!" Hans said. He gave her another sloppy kiss, then turned and left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_I apologize if any of you admire Thoreau or really like the book Walden. I know it's got all sorts of imagery and insights and stuff, but most people I talk to find it one of the most boring books they've ever read, so I chose that to be the one they complained about. _


	9. Lunch

"Olaf! Over here!"

Sven waved down the little round boy tottering around the front of the restaurant. He perked up at the sight of him and Kristoff sitting at the table across the room and quickly skipped over.

"Hi, guys!" he said, grinning.

They nodded in greeting. Olaf took a seat beside them. "Is Anna here yet?" he wondered.

"No, not yet," Kristoff answered.

"She did say to meet here for lunch though, right?" Olaf asked.

"Yeah," Kristoff said.

"12:00 at The Beck Steakhouse. And she's bringing Hans," Olaf said.

"Yes. We were all there when she invited us yesterday," Kristoff said.

Olaf smiled and leaned on the table. "So how's tutoring going?" he asked.

"Yes, I was wondering the same thing," Sven said, turning to Kristoff, "It's been, what? Almost two months now?"

"Two months next week," Kristoff said.

"Ah, keeping track, are we?" Sven said, raising his eyebrows teasingly.

Kristoff glared at him. "I keep track of everything," he retorted, "And it's going fine, thank you very much."

""Fine"?" Sven repeated.

"Yes. "Fine"," Kristoff said, "Her test scores are improving a little bit, which means I'm doing my job right. Therefore, going "fine"."

"So... that's all you do is study and homework?" Sven asked.

"Well yeah. What do you think goes on in tutoring?" Kristoff asked.

Sven shrugged. "I don't know. You and Anna just seem to have gotten awfully... close over the past few weeks."

Kristoff just stared at him. Sven shrugged again. "Well you have! Anyone could see it," he said, "Olaf, help me out."

"It's true," Olaf said.

Kristoff crossed his arms. "Well what's wrong with making a friend?" he asked, "Are you jealous that you're not my one and only best bud and pal anymore?"

"No, no," Sven said, "What I'm saying is... you two are really close."

"Yes, you just said that."

"I mean like _really_ close."

Kristoff saw the knowing expression on not only Sven's face, but Olaf's as well. "Now hang on a minute," he said, holding up a hand, "I think she's a very nice girl and we get along great, which is rare for me, but that's it. So you can just wipe those stupid looks off your faces."

Sven held up his hands in defeat. "OK, alright. Whatever you say, bud."

"Hey, you guys!"

Everyone turned and saw Anna standing arm-in-arm with Hans beside their table, grinning down at them. They smiled back.

"Hi, Anna!" Olaf cried enthusiastically.

"Anna!" Sven also cried out, equally enthused.

"Hey," Kristoff said, giving a slight wave.

"I'm so glad you could all come!" Anna said.

The three sitting at the table glanced at each other then shifted around so that Anna and Hans could scoot in and still sit beside one another. "Sorry we're a little late," Anna said, "I had to stop by to see Elsa.

"You're still doing that?" Kristoff asked, "After, you know..."

Anna shrugged, biting her lip. "Well, I usually just leave her a plate of cookies or something," she said, "I don't really even talk to her anymore... Maybe once in a while, if there's something I really, really want her to know. But after a couple weeks ago, I know she doesn't really care."

"I'm sorry, Anna," Olaf said, resting a hand on her arm.

Anna gave him a half smile. There was a pause. Suddenly Hans clapped his hands together. "Well, sisters can be twats, right?" he said, "Let's eat, I'm starving."

Kristoff and Sven frowned slightly as Hans grabbed a menu and began to look over its contents, but they soon picked up their own and began to look as well.

After they ordered, everyone sat in silence once again. Hans had his arm draped around Anna's shoulder and began repeatedly kissing her neck. Anna cleared her throat, looking at Kristoff and Sven. "So, I realized after all the time we've known each other, I've never asked," she said, "How did you two meet?"

Kristoff and Sven glanced at each other, then back at Anna. "Ah well, it's been as long as I can remember," Kristoff answered.

"Yeah, like kindergarten I'm pretty sure it was," Sven said, "This guy wanted to steal the carrots my mom had packed in my lunch, but I wouldn't let him and so I tackled him to the ground and..."

"And I beat the crap out of him," Kristoff said through a tight mouth, eyeing Hans as he moved his way up Anna's neck towards her mouth, eyes narrow.

"Ha! Did you really? That's- mmph!" Hans suddenly kissed her. After a long moment of lustfulness, he finally released her and continued on with her cheek and ear. "That's funny," Anna finished, "I can just picture you two as little toddlers, beating each other up."

"No, no. I beat _him_ up," Kristof said, trying hard to ignore the leech sucking on Anna's ear.

"But we were just little kids," Sven said, keeping his eyes averted, "I could whop him now if I wanted."

Kristoff snorted. "You wish."

"I could!" Sven insisted, "I'm just afraid of hurting you and your pretty face."

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. "I do not have a pretty face."

"Yeah ya do," Sven said.

Kristoff crossed his arms. "I can't trust your judgement. You think the witch on Bugs Bunny has a pretty face."

"Fine. We'll ask Anna," Sven said, turning, "Anna, you're a woman. Does Kristoff have a pretty face?"

Hans momentarily stopped kissing her neck while Anna dropped the dessert menu she had been holding. "Um, well... I can't answer that in front of my boyfriend!"

"So that's a yes," Sven said, turning back to Kristoff.

"What? I never said that," Anna protested.

"If it was a no, you would have been comfortable saying so in front of your boyfriend," Sven said. Anna blushed slightly while Sven looked back at Kristoff and Hans picked up where he left off.

"Anyways," Sven said, "I could beat you up, I just choose not to."

"Please," Kristoff scoffed.

"I could!" Sven said.

"In your dreams."

"In real life!"

"I'd squash you like a pea."

"You would not," Sven insisted, he turned to Olaf, "Olaf, what do you think?"

"I'm with Kristoff," Olaf answered.

"What? Oh come on," Sven whined.

"Look how huge he is!" Olaf said.

Just then, the waitress approached with their food. Finally, Hans stopped sucking on Anna's face and neck. Kristoff couldn't be sure, but she almost looked... relieved when he did? It was such a quick expression he was sure if he imagined it. he probably did because he knew that _he_ was certainly relieved. Seriously, there was a thing called common decency while out in public with people. And doing... _that _was certainly not appropriate. But whatever. If they wanted to go slobber over each other's faces, they could go right ahead and do that... Just, did they have to do it out in the open right in front of everybody?

After everybody finished, the waitress came around again with everybody's checks. Hans went for his pocket, then his face dropped and he turned to Anna. "Ooh... I forgot my wallet," he said, scrunching up his face into the most pitiful expression.

"Oh! Oh no, how will we pay?" Anna asked, looking at the check.

Hans inhaled slowly. "Did you bring your wallet?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, pulling it out.

Hans smiled sweetly. Anna sighed. "Alright, I'll pay," she said.

"You're a doll," Hans said, kissing her cheek, "It's why I love you."

Anna smiled slightly as she wrote out a check. Then she and Hans stood up. "Well, we're going to take off," Hans said.

"It was great to see you guys," Anna said, "Bye!"

Everyone waved as Anna and Hans made their way to the door. They watched as Hans walked out, letting it slam right in Anna's face. She turned around and waved at the table one last time before opening the door and following after Hans.

Once they were gone, Kristoff turned back to the table. "OK, didn't Anna say that Hans was always a perfect gentleman to her?" he asked, "Like doesn't that include opening doors and stuff?"

Sven nodded. "She _does _say that at every chance she gets," he answered, "Actually, I believe her direct quote is either "the perfect man" or "prince charming", so I would assume that would include gentlemanly behavior."

"So what was up with that?" Kristoff asked, pointing to the door.

Sven shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he just forgot this time or something."

Kristoff sighed. "I don't know," he said, "I would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that, but it's just... Was it just me or did Anna seem really uncomfortable while he was kissing her?"

"Oh! No! It wasn't just you!" Olaf said, "I saw it too."

"I guess now that you mention it..." Sven said, "I know _I_ was uncomfortable. Like seriously, get a room."

"And the way he insulted her sister and just brushed it aside like it was nothing," Kristoff added, "He must know what a tender subject her sister is to her, right?"

"If he does, he certainly doesn't give a care," Sven said.

"Have you noticed she's been a little less... bubbly than she used to be lately?" Kristoff asked.

"She still seems bubbly to me," Sven replied.

"Yeah, I know, but _less_ bubbly," Kristoff said.

"I always just thought it was because of what happened with her sister," Olaf said.

"Maybe," Kristoff said, nodding, "Or... or it could be because of... a certain "prince charming" that has been becoming a little more prominent in her life lately?"

Olaf and Sven nodded. "It _has_ been a while since that event with her sister," Sven said, "But what do I really know about getting brutally scorned?"

"She did say she still visits her though," Olaf pointed out, "So she can't be too upset over it."

They both looked at Kristoff once again. "You might be right," Sven said, "Somebody's got to talk to her."

"Yeah," Kristoff agreed.

"And the first one to speak goes," Sven said, pointing to Kristoff.

Kristoff frowned. "What? Me? I'm no good with talking to people."

"This isn't people, this is Anna," Sven said.

"Still," Kristoff said, "I can't be giving intimate advice. Especially to a girl and especially about dating."

"What? You think either of us are any better?" Sven asked, gesturing to himself and Olaf.

"Well... I like to consider myself a love expert," Olaf said.

"_But_," Sven cut him off, "You are the perfect candidate because you already have set alone time. Once a week. Besides... she likes you."

"She likes all three of us," Kristoff pointed out.

"Yeah, but like I said before, you two have gotten really close over the past couple months. And if she's going to listen to any of us, my bets are set on you."


	10. The Decision

Kristoff approached the small wooden door. It was now or never. He had spent all day pumping himself up for this moment. If he didn't face Anna now, he probably wouldn't have the guts to do it ever again. He took a deep breath and pushed it open.

Anna already sat inside with her math book and tests spread out in front of her. She was doodling away on the corner of her notepad and did not even notice him enter. He quietly crept up behind her in hopes of seeing what she was so concentrated on. It seemed to be some sort of animal, though her hand covered most of it and Kristoff could not make out what exactly it was.

"What'chya drawing?" he spoke up suddenly.

Anna yelped in surprise. She spun around, wide eyed. "Kristoff! I didn't hear you come in!" she cried out.

He chuckled as she began dropping papers on the ground in an attempt to cover whatever she had been sketching in her notebook. "Clearly," he said, "You need some help there?"

"No, no! I got it!" she said, scooping up the papers in her arms.

However, with her arms full of loose papers, it conveniently left Kristoff an open opportunity to look at her notebook which was still laying open on the table. He picked it up and his eyes found her small drawing in the corner. It was a reindeer with someone standing next to it.

Anna finally stood up straight and saw Kristoff holding her notebook. She gasped and dropped all her papers again. "That's mine!" she cried, lunging towards him.

Kristoff instinctively held the notebook up out of her reach, which wasn't hard considering he was almost two heads taller than she was. "What's the big deal?" he asked as she jumped up and down, grabbing at the notebook, "It's just your drawing of a reindeer and some guy. What? Are you embarrassed by your skill as an artist? Do you not want your work to be known?"

Anna didn't say anything and merely continued to try and grab the book. She was making an awfully big deal about this. Maybe he had missed something on the picture. He looked back at it and began to scan it once more, which was rather difficult to do since Anna had begun to try and climb up his back.

Oh wait, the reindeer and the guy were saying something, there was tiny writing. Kristoff squinted to read what was in the speech bubble.

""Reindeers are better than people"?" Kristoff said, "Are you embarrassed by your bad grammar?"

"They're bold and majestic animals!" Anna said, still clinging to his back, "You said so yourself!"

"Yeah, but..." Kristoff stopped, "Did I say _reindeers_?"

"You always say reindeers!"

Kristoff looked at the drawing once more. Then it clicked. "Is my nose really that big?"

Anna slid off his back, head hanging slightly. "You weren't supposed to see that," she said, "I was just bored waiting for you and I was thinking about how you liked reindeer and I thought I had never drawn a reindeer before then it turned into both you and a reindeer and then you just walked in and..."

"Hey, it's OK. I like it," Kristoff said, smiling.

Anna smiled timidly. "Really?"

"Really," Kristoff said, "In fact, can I keep it? I've never had someone do a portrait of me before."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a portrait..."

Kristoff tore the page from the notebook then held it out to her. "Every art piece must have the artist's signature, you know?"

Anna giggled then quickly scribbled her name onto the paper and handed it back to him. He smiled and neatly stuck it into his backpack.

Anna tucked a bit of hair that had fallen loose from her braid behind her ear. "So, um, down to business then?"

Kristoff suddenly remembered why he had been pacing outside the door a moment ago and his good spirits instantly evaporated. Anna saw the smile drop from his face and grew concerned. "Is... everything alright?" she asked cautiously.

Kristoff looked up into her face. Why did it fall upon him to have this conversation? He felt like her father. Was it really his business? He didn't want to pry. But he did want to help. Maybe just a casual question to start?

"So... how are things going with Hans?" he asked lightly.

Anna seemed taken aback by the question, but she answered. "Fine," she answered.

"Just "fine"?" Kristoff asked, "Not "perfectly perfect! We're floating on cloud nine in the highest regions of heaven!"?"

Anna narrowed her eyes slightly. "Why are you asking?" she asked evenly.

"Well, it's just that I... that is to say Olaf, Sven, and I have noticed, er... it's _come to our attention_ that you have seemed a little unlike yourself these past couple weeks."

"In what way?"

Kristoff cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You're just not quite as... perky? It's kind of like you're... tired all the time? ...maybe?"

Anna pursed her lips. "And you think Hans has something to do with that?"

Kristoff shrugged. "Could be."

"What about my sister?"

Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck. "We thought about that, but then..."

Anna folded her arms. "Then what?"

"Then we went to lunch the other day. And we were watching you and you seemed really uncomfortable."

Anna suddenly looked down. Ah-ha! He had her. "It's not so bad," she said, "He usually isn't that bad. You saw him on one of his worse days."

"So he does that a lot then?" Kristoff asked.

"No! I told you that was one of his worse days," Anna said.

Now it was Kristoff's turn to narrow his eyes. "But if you tell him to knock it off, he does, right?"

Anna didn't answer. Kristoff leaned closer to her. She didn't look up at him. "Right!?" Kristoff repeated firmly.

"I haven't told him to stop!" Anna finally said, exasperated.

"If it bothers you, why not?" Kristoff asked.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"He's had a lot of girlfriends before me. He knows what he's doing," Anna said, her voice cracking, "He's just my first boyfriend ever, so why should I not follow his lead?"

Kristoff nodded, understanding. "So what you're saying is... you're afraid he'll leave you if you don't bow to his wishes?"

Anna looked at her hands and nodded slightly, tears forming in her eyes. Oh no. A crying girl, Kristoff could not handle. He scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Hey, look," he said gently, "I don't know a lot about relationships and stuff, but I do know a that if someone doesn't respect you- in a relationship or not- they're not worth your time."

Anna didn't say anything. Kristoff decided to continue. "So, if I were you. Um... I would tell Hans what's up and if he doesn't respect your feelings..."

"You're right," Anna said.

Kristoff had not been expecting that. "What?"

"You're right," she said, "I should go talk to him. Tell him how I'm feeling. Stand up for myself."

"Oh. Yes, great!" Kristoff said, still slightly taken aback by her sudden acceptance.

"I'm meeting up with him tomorrow. I'll talk to him then," Anna said.

Kristoff nodded. It was then that he realized he still had his arm wrapped around her shoulder and quickly removed it since she was no longer crying.

"In fact I'll call him tonight," Anna continued, "I won't tell him over the phone though. That's just bad etiquette. I'll just tell him I have something important I want to talk to him about."

She tapped her chin for a moment. "Should I just come out and say it?" she wondered, "Or should I casually lead into it? I don't know how he'll take it. I don't _want_ him to dump me, but..."

Kristoff just watched her as she sunk into deep thought. He suddenly felt a strange churning in his stomach as he watched her. Not exactly a sick feeling, but most definitely not pleasant. He suddenly felt very warm and his mouth went dry.

He cleared his throat. "I don't know," he said, rubbing his head, trying to erase the sudden throbbing.

"I'm sure I'll figure something out before tomorrow," Anna said, sighing. She leaned forwards and wrapped her arms tightly around his middle in a bear hug. "Thank you, Kristoff," she said, "Tell the others too."

She released him and Kristoff felt like he was going to keel over with dizziness. "Um, yeah," he said.

"Now, let's get down to business," Anna said, turning towards her math on the table.

Kristoff turned towards the table as well, but he could hardly focus. His stomach was still churning and his head was on fire. Did he have a fever? What was going on? He cleared his throat. "Um, Anna, I'm not feeling too well. Maybe we should cancel tutoring for today?" he suggested.

"Oh. Sure," Anna said, then she looked at with some concern, "Are you going to be OK?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kristoff said, standing up, "Just need to go lie down."

He stumbled towards the door. With a small wave to Anna, he shut the door behind him. He leaned against the wall for a moment. What in the world just happened in there? One minute he's perfectly fine, then all of a sudden he's feeling the heat of a thousand suns.

He began walking, taking deep breaths. The discomfort and heat began to die down a bit as he moved and he began to feel normal once more. As he continued back to his apartment, he began to wrack his brain, trying to find out what had happened to him.

What had he done? He had just been talking to Anna, that was it. Had something happened at that moment to bring it on? He thought for a moment. Right before it started... he had been watching Anna think about her problem with Hans. That was it. He hadn't even said anything or moved or anything like that. He just sat there watching her while she thought about her problem. She wasn't even doing anything remarkable. She just sort of scrunched up her face in this kind of cute way that made her eyes sparkle in a way that made them just look so thoughtful. But then, her eyes always sparkled. And she was always so thoughtful. And then the way that... And there was that churning in his stomach again!

No. Oh no. No, no, no! It couldn't be! Yes, he liked Anna, but that was it. He did not _like_ Anna. That was just ridiculous. And also out of the question. She had a boyfriend... who knew for how much longer, but still!

He finally reached his apartment, entered, and flopped down on the sofa. Every time Anna came into his mind, the churning in his stomach and the heat returned. He did not like Anna. He did not like Anna... Did he?


	11. The Talk

Anna raised her fist and with a calming breath, pounded on the door. She rarely came to Hans's apartment, only once or twice since they had started dating, he usually came to pick her up or they just met up with each other somewhere, but after she had called him the day before, he had suggested they meet at his place.

After a few agonizing moments of waiting, she heard the door unlatch and it opened. There was something about him today. He normally was perfectly groomed and dressed, but now something about the way his shirt was unbuttoned nearly halfway down so his chest was just barely visible, and his uncombed hair hanging over his forehead, Anna felt her stomach flip-flop. As usual, he was smiling down at her with his perfect pearly whites. She just took a moment to bask in his perfection. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hmm..." Anna sighed, still staring, "Oh, hi!"

"Did you want to come in?" he asked.

"Yeah, uh, sure," Anna said

He opened the door wider to admit her. She moved past him and inside. He had a pretty high class apartment, especially for a college student. She sometimes wondered if his family was rich like hers. She knew his father was a foreign diplomat, but did that mean he was rich? She never asked, she felt like that was prying. She just waited until the subject came up, which it had not yet.

After she was inside, Hans closed the door behind her and moved around so he stood in front of her. "So what's up?" he asked, "You sounded pretty concerned on the phone yesterday. Is it serious?"

Anna cleared her throat. Do it. Just do it. If he accepts you for it, great! If not then he's not worth your time... right? Ugh, she had forgotten how distracting those green eyes could be! Now with that open shirt and the hair, it was almost impossible to think. Just don't look directly at him... like the sun, or whatever!

"Look, Hans," she began. OK, good start, keep going. "I came here to tell you..."

She looked into his face. _Why_ did she do that? She couldn't go right to the point like she originally planned with him looking down at her like that. Now she had to start off on a more casual topic. "I was just over at Elsa's before I came here and..."

"Did you tell her you were coming over here?" he interrupted.

"No," Anna replied, slightly taken aback by the abruptness of the question, "I just left my usual plate of cookies. I don't really do a lot of talking anymore."

"Why? You don't think she cares?"

Anna sighed and nodded.

Hans nodded as well. "You're probably right," he said, "Anybody who refuses to even open a door for their own sister cannot be too good with the whole love thing."

Anna felt her heart drop. "Well, I-I don't know," she said, "I mean, it seems a little harsh to say she doesn't love..."

"Look, Anna, you've been trying for months to reach out to her. If she had any semblance of a heart, don't you think she would have acknowledged you by now?"

"She takes my cookies..."

"They're _cookies_. Who _wouldn't _take them?"

Anna felt as though she had been slapped in the face. She felt her eyes begin to sting and she looked down at the ground. In a moment, she felt an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you," Hans said, "But I just don't want to see you keep putting yourself out there like that, only to keep getting knocked down each time."

Anna wiped away a tear that had forced its way out and down her cheek. "I know. You do care, don't you?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course," he answered.

Anna sniffled slightly, pushing back her pain. "OK," she said, "I came here... to tell you something."

"Alright," Hans said, pulling away from her and sticking his hands in his pockets, staring at her attentively.

"Now... we've been dating for a while," Anna said.

"Yeah, couple months," Hans said.

"Yeah," Anna said, "And it's been great. That's is uh... mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Yeah, er... well, you know, umm... I love kissing! I mean, kissing's great, especially kissing you. It's like kissing a marshmallow. No! Not that you're fat, because you're not! You're by no means puffy in any way! Er, what I mean is... your lips! They're soft... like... a marshmallow. Ugh, that sounded better in my head. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that I do like kissing... you. But it's just that... well, I don't really know how to say this."

Hans raised his eyebrows. "Just say it."

Anna took a breath. "Well..."

Suddenly the sound of a phone ringing split the air. Hans looked down and pulled one of his hands out of his pockets, pulling his phone with it. It was buzzing and ringing in his hand. He looked at the ID, frowning. "It's my mom," he said, sounding confused, "She never calls unless it's urgent. I'm sorry, I need to take this."

"Oh yeah, sure," Anna said, trying to mask her disappointment with nonchalance, "Take your time."

Hans answered the phone and stepped into the other room. "Hello?"

Anna sighed. Fate was against her it seemed. She had been so close to finally telling him. And just when her courage was at its peak, his phone had to ring.

He was not gone long. However, he returned with his eyes downcast, looking almost on the verge of tears. Something was not right. Anna moved closer to him. "Hans? Is everything alright?"

"That... that was my mom," he said heavily, "She told me that... my grandmother just passed on."

"What?" Anna said.

"She'd been in the hospital for five months with a brain tumor. We were surprise she even lasted this long," Hans said, sitting down on the sofa and putting a hand to his forehead. Was he... crying?

Anna rushed to his side. She gingerly rested her hand on his. "Were you close to her?" she asked gently.

It took him a moment before he answered. "She was the best grandma anyone could ask for," he said, "You know, she did all the usual stuff like make you cookies and brownies and whatever when you visited. And she had the most awesome house with the best tire swing on this giant oak tree in the backyard. I always remember her sitting in her green rocking chair knitting hats and scarves and stuff. And whenever my brothers and I would stay over, she would always make up bedtime stories right there on the spot and they were the best stories I had ever heard in my life."

Anna smiled. "That sounds nice," she said softly.

"It was," Hans said. He began to get choked up again slightly, but he fought it back. Anna held his hand. "Now she's gone," he said through deep breaths, "Why does everyone always have to leave? First my grandpa, then Penny... I never thought I'd ever get over her. I told you about her, right? In high school... my first girlfriend?"

Anna nodded, then clung tightly to his hand and pulled it close to her. "Not everyone leaves," she said, "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."

Hans cracked a smile and he squeezed her hand. "I know. That's why I love you."

Anna's eyes widened. "What?"

Hans's melancholy atmosphere disappeared slightly. "Oh..." he said, realizing, "I had planned on telling you under less gloomy circumstances."

"You... you love me?" Anna repeated, shocked.

"Yeah," Hans answered, slightly sheepish.

Anna processed this information for a moment. No one had ever loved her before, at least not romantically. There was always her parents's love, and she had once thought Elsa loved her, but who even knew about that anymore. But Hans loved her? It seemed too good to be true! She slowly smiled at him. "I love you too," she said.

He leaned closer to her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said.

And he closed the gap between them. Plan? What plan?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Do you think she actually went through with it?" Olaf wondered.

"I certainly hope so, for her sake," Sven answered.

"Kristoff, you did say she was going to do it today, right?" Olaf asked.

Kristoff just nodded, staring at his binder in his lap as the three of them sat on the steps in front of the Castle Building. He was still trying to process the feelings he had been experiencing ever since his tutoring session with Anna the previous day.

"Hey, are you OK? You've been acting all weird since yesterday," Sven said.

"I'm fine," Kristoff said, "I've just had a bit of a headache, that's all."

"Alright, suit yourself," Sven said, shrugging, "But if you want to talk, I'm right here for you."

"I do not need to _talk_, Sven," Kristoff snapped, "It's a headache."

"OK, fine," Sven said, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Hey look, Anna's coming this way!" Olaf announced, pointing.

Kristoff's head snapped up in the direction that Olaf was pointing. Sure enough, Anna's petite figure was moving towards them in the distance. Kristoff could feel his heart rate suddenly speed up and he could even feel a blush rise to his cheeks. What in the world? That was just not okay! He took long steady breaths in attempt to slow his racing heart and he prayed that his face was not too noticeably red.

Anna approached. She was not smiling. Olaf spoke up first. "So?"

"So what?" Anna asked.

"So what happened?" Olaf asked.

Anna adjusted her collar. "I don't see why that's any of your business."

Olaf's face dropped slightly. "Didn't you tell Hans about your problem?"

"I might have or maybe not," Anna said, "I still don't see why it's any of your business."

"Anna, are you okay?" Sven wondered, "You're acting a little strange."

"I'm fine!" Anna said sharply, "And if you must know, I am still with Hans and everything's been resolved."

"So you told him?" Olaf asked.

"No. But everything worked out for the best," Anna said.

""Worked out for the best"?" Sven repeated, "Anna, if you didn't tell him your problem, how can everything work out for the best?"

"You wouldn't understand," Anna said, "None of you have been in a relationship, so how can you know what's best?"

Everyone just stared at her, dumbfounded. Anna inhaled sharply. "Now excuse me, I have a class that starts in five minutes."

With that she marched up the steps and disappeared into the Castle Building.


	12. Snowball Fight

The first snowfall of the year always put everybody at Arendelle University in a lighter mood. Just something about the white flakes fluttering around and coating everything like frosting on a cake made everything seem a little more magical somehow.

Three friends, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven all sat outside, watching a group of girls build a snowman. They sat in almost painful silence, finally Sven couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, Olaf, that snowman bears an uncanny resemblance to you," he quipped.

Olaf stared hard at the snowman for a long moment. "I don't see it," he said in all seriousness.

"You know, the... oh nevermind." Explaining the joke would not end well.

At that moment, Sven spotted Anna across the courtyard. He wasn't sure if he wanted to point her out to the others or not. He had noticed Kristoff had been a lot more of a debbie-downer since the incident a few days back. And every time he saw her, it just made it worse. Yeah, best not point her out.

"Hey look! It's Anna!"

Leave it to Olaf. Everyone looked in the direction Olaf was pointing. Anna had stopped in front of the Castle Building to text on her phone. Sven glanced at Kristoff. Yeah, just as he predicted, here comes the doom and gloom.

Olaf sighed. "I wish she'd come over here."

"You know she's still mad," Kristoff said glumly.

"It's been almost a week," Sven pointed out, "If she hasn't forgiven us by now, she probably never will."

"But why? What if we just go over there and tell her we're sorry and we won't bother her anymore?" Olaf said.

"Won't we though?" Kristoff said, "I mean clearly this guy is not doing her any good."

"Yeah, but she might just have to figure that out on her own," Sven said, "I mean I know it sucks, but if we stay here by ourselves we can't help her, and if we go be her friend again, she won't listen to us. There's not much we can do, but just be there for her. So I agree with Olaf... let's go say sorry."

"Great! Let's go!" Olaf immediately stood up and took off.

"Olaf, wait!" Kristoff called.

"It's no use," Sven said, standing up as well, "Come on."

They followed after the pudgy little sophomore who had already approached Anna. She did not notice him at first, still engrossed in her phone. However, Olaf reached out a hand and tapped her on the shoulder. She started slightly and then looked up. He looked at her sheepish, but hopeful as he began to speak. Anna didn't say anything as he spoke, probably giving her his best heartfelt apology. Finally he looked up at her, eyes round and pleading. After a moment, Anna sighed and then gave a small smile. Olaf grinned and began to dance in place, probably holding himself back from pouncing on her in one of his bear hugs. However, Anna scooped him up instead, squeezing him tightly.

Olaf waved to Sven and Kristoff who had stopped walking to observe the scene. "It's OK, guys!" he called.

They both smirked at Olaf's antics and cautiously moved forward. She had forgiven Olaf, but did that forgiveness extend to them? Anna just stared at them, stone-faced as they approached.

Kristoff spoke first, "Look Anna, I know you've been under a lot of stress... being in a new relationship and all."

"So if you want us to shut up and stay out of it, we will," Sven said. Kristoff nodded in agreement.

There was a tense moment of silence as Anna stared at them, arms folded across her chest. Sven and Kristoff didn't move as she did. Suddenly, she flung her arms around both of them in a tight hug, catching them off guard.

"Thank you! Of course I forgive you, I could never be mad at you for too long," she cried.

She released them, her eyes shining as she smiled up at them. "You're my only friends, after all."

"Ah, so you missed us," Kristoff said, "You were lonely without our masculine company and noxious body odor."

"Now don't get cocky," Anna said, forcing back a smile, "I still had Hans."

"So you admit Hans has noxious body odor?" Kristoff asked, smirking.

Anna narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, before Kristoff knew what was happening, a large ball of snow hit him smack in the face. He staggered backwards, spitting out snow and ice as Anna brushed off her her mitten. For a moment, no one was sure if it was meant as a vicious attack or not until Anna's voice loudly declared: "Snowball fight!"

"Yes! Snowball fight!" Olaf cried and he immediately picked up some snow and chucked it at Sven, hitting him square in the chest. Sven stared at the spot in the center of his chest, appalled. Then he slowly bent down and packed some snow into a ball and marched over to Anna and Olaf.

Anna pointed at Olaf accusingly. "He did it."

Sven nodded. "Thank you." Then he crushed the snowball into the top of Anna's head. "But you started it!"

Anna scowled at him then quickly bent down to pack another snowball. As soon as she did, everyone quickly ran for cover. She chose Kristoff for a target, who had not yet found suitable cover. She threw her ball of snow, but it sailed just over his head and hit Olaf instead.

Kristoff laughed. "You missed me!" he declared.

"Oh yeah?" Anna glowered. She raised her other hand, revealing another snowball. He immediately stopped laughing and did not have time to duck as it came smashing into the side of his head.

Kristoff and Anna glared at each other for a moment then both scrambled to the ground, desperately crafting snowballs as fast as they could. Olaf's head popped out over his hiding place, his head still covered with snow. "Who threw that!" he demanded.

"She did!" Kristoff said, pointing to Anna.

"You guys," Sven said, his head poking out from his hiding spot, "Don't you think that-?" No one got to hear what he thought because his words were suddenly cut off by Olaf's snowball after Anna had successfully dodged it.

Snowballs were flying in all directions, each getting hit in turn.

Kristoff reared back and sent another snowball flying, hitting Sven in the shoulder. "Ha! And that's for eating all my cereal this morning!"

Sven glared in his direction and tossed his own snow missile at him. He barely dodged it. However, as Kristoff was focused on Sven's attack, he did not notice Anna creeping up behind him, snow in hand. Sven did, however, and he was determined to keep him distracted.

Kristoff threw another snowball, but missed Sven entirely. Sven began to laugh.

"Funny, is it?" Kristoff asked.

"Yeah-" Sven was cut off by a snowball hitting him directly in the face.

"Laughing now?" Kristoff asked, brushing off his hands, smirking.

Anna suddenly pounced on him from behind, her arms wrapped around his neck. She began stuffing her handful of ice down his shirt, while simultaneously clinging on to him. Kristoff stumbled around, desperately attempting to reach her with no success. "Anna!" he screeched.

Sven was cracking up from his hiding spot, practically rolling on the ground. "Yes, yes I am," he answered Kristoff's previous question.

Olaf joined in with Sven's laughter as they watched Kristoff flail around, trying to get Anna off his back. A long string of curses flew from his tongue as he spun around. Anna just clung to him tightly, laughing herself.

Kristoff suddenly slipped on an ice patch. He was going down! He fell right onto his side with a painful thud. Anna's grip finally loosened. They both laid on the ground, laughing and groaning. Anna pushed herself up slightly. "Are you OK?" she asked.

Kristoff was very much conscious of her hand resting on his chest as he stared up at her. "Um, yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Good. Great," he stammered.

She smiled. "Good," she said, "Sorry about that."

Why did she have to have such beautiful eyes? The way she was just looking down at him right now. They were so close. He could practically count every single one of those cute freckles. And the way her lips were turned up into a smile, it just made her entire face glow. In fact, they were so close, it would't be very hard for him to just lean forward and kiss...

"Anna!"

Kristoff immediately snapped out of it. Everyone turned to look. Hans was approaching from down the steps of the Castle Building, wearing his Student Services vest. Kristoff realized what a compromising position he and Anna were in and quickly sat up.

"Hans, you're off early," Anna said, standing up and brushing off her purple coat.

"Yeah, they're actually sending me to work in Activities for a couple weeks," Hans said.

"Really?" Anna asked.

"Oh is it because of the Winter Ball that's coming up?" Olaf asked, approaching along with Sven.

"The what?" Ana asked, her interest suddenly piqued.

"You haven't heard?" Olaf asked, "There's fliers everywhere. It's a winter-themed dance. Actually, isn't it going to be super formal? Like with fancy dresses and stuff?"

Hans shrugged. "Just sounds like prom with snow to me."

"Ooh! That sounds like so much fun!" Anna said, she grabbed Hans's arm, "We should go."

"Really?" Hans asked disdainfully, "I mean all it is is basically a suped-up party with a bunch of people we don't know in fancy dress that nobody's comfortable in, only there to make out or get laid in the parking lot and hallways."

"Oh come on, there's so much more to it than that," Anna said, "There's dancing, and music, and food, and dressing up is always fun, uncomfortable or not."

Hans raised an eyebrow. Anna leaned her head on his shoulder. "Please?" she asked.

Hans heaved a sigh. "It's in less than two weeks. Do you have time to get ready?"

"Yes! Yes! Thank you! You're the best!" Anna hugged him tightly while he rolled his eyes slightly. Anna looked at Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf, "Will you guys come?"

"Ha! That's a laugh, us getting dates," Sven said.

"You don't need a date to come to a dance," Anna said.

"I bet I could find somebody!" Olaf declared, smiling with determination, "Somebody nice, and warm, and gentle, and friendly, with a nice..."

"Yeah OK, you do that, big guy," Hans said, looking slightly disturbed.

"Good for you, Olaf," Anna said, grinning, "What about you, Kristoff?"

Kristoff stared at her at a complete loss for words. Go to a dance only to revel in Anna wrapped up in Hans's arms for an entire night? It was bad enough just seeing them holding hands at that moment. How could he even think about getting a date when Anna was right there in front of him? But no. She was taken, and he was not going to interfere. Why did this have to happen to him?

"Stag actually sounds good," Sven said suddenly, nodding at the prospect, "Yeah, maybe I will go. Kristoff can come as my side-kick. Right?"

Sven looked at Kristoff expectantly. Kristoff snapped out of his misery and nodded maybe a little too enthusiastically. "Oh yeah! Sounds great!" he declared.

"Yay!" Anna cried, "This will be so much fun!"

"Whoopee," Hans said with fake enthusiasm, then he looked at Anna, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. Let's go. See you guys, later!" She waved to her three friends as Hans led her away.

After they were gone, Olaf turned to the other two. "I actually have a class in like fifteen minutes on the other side of campus, I should probably go too," he said, "See ya!"

They waved as Olaf practically skipped off, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he went. As soon as Olaf was out of earshot, Sven turned to Kristoff, sternly. "OK, what just happened back there?"

Kristoff wrinkled his brow. "What?"

"Everything! The laying in the snow, the not answering her question about the dance!"

Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "What are you talking about? I just slipped and fell. You saw what happened. And when you slip and fall, you end up laying on the ground. What's the big deal?"

"Yeah, but not everyone stares into each other's eyes like they want to have them right there right now," Sven said.

"Excuse you. Even if that were true, I would never!" Kristoff said, frowning.

"OK, so why didn't you answer her question about the dance?"

"I just didn't know how to answer, alright?" Kristoff answered, "I didn't know how to tell her that there was no girl out there that could interest me."

"Really? So it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that the girl you actually wanted to take was already taken?"

"No, Sven! I told you, there's no girl out there that could possible interest me. The only girl that could ever interest me would have to be fun, and nice, and who cared about everybody, and who might be a little clumsy, but in a good way. She'd also be sweet, and funny, and eternally optimistic. And she would have the most beautiful eyes. The kind that... you could just get lost in... But you know what? She's not for me! Those girls have their own boyfriends already! Boyfriends who are complete jerk-wads! So there's nothing I can do and there's nothing out there to interest me!"

Sven just watched Kristoff as he ranted. Kristoff sighed and stared at the ground. "Has it been that obvious?" he asked quietly.

"Well, your face turns redder than a cherry every time you see her and you can never take your eyes off her," Sven replied, "I'd say it's pretty obvious."

Kristoff sighed once more. "Not to her though... And it's going to stay that way, alright?"

"But-"

"Alright?" Kristoff repeated firmly.

Sven hesitated before finally agreeing. "Alright."


	13. Meet the Family

Anna entered the room to tutoring and found Kristoff leaning over the desk already. "There you are," he said, looking up as she entered, "I was beginning to wonder."

Anna shut the door behind her and shuffled over to his side. "I'm not _that_ late," she said, pulling at the sleeves of her coat.

"It's fifteen minutes after," Kristoff said.

Anna looked up at the clock. He was right. "Oh," she said, "Sorry. I was... busy."

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. "Busy?"

"Yeah," Anna said, sitting beside him and unzipping her bag, "Ready to start then?"

Kristoff eyed her suspiciously. "Anna... what's that on your neck?" he asked.

Anna quickly adjusted her collar, covering the red mark. "Nothing," she said, "Hans and I were just..." She trailed off, turning pink.

Kristoff frowned, but decided not to press it further, remembering his promise. He changed the subject instead. "So did you stop by your sister's?" he asked, saying the first thing that popped into his head.

Anna shook her head. "I haven't really been by Elsa's since... well since the day I got mad at you guys."

Kristoff furrowed his brow. "What? But you always have gone over there at least every day before tutoring if not more," he said.

"I know, but clearly she doesn't want me around," Anna said, "All I ever wanted was for her to open the door and talk to me. Just to tell me what's going on in her life. But no. I get nothing. I give her everything and she shuns me. So why give your heart to someone who doesn't love you back?"

This was unusual coming from Anna. Normally she would always keep the faith that everything would work out for the best, no matter how difficult or hopeless it got. But now... she was giving up? On her own sister? Something definitely was not right. And he had a feeling that something was tall, red-haired, and worked at Student Services.

"So, let's start," Anna said, pulling out her math book.

Kristoff noticed that she had not removed her mittens. Or her hat for that matter. It was rather warm and stuffy in the room and it wasn't very easy to write while wearing mittens. Wasn't she hot?

"Anna, why are you wearing your mittens?" Kristoff asked.

"Because I like them," Anna answered pointedly.

"But, don't you think it'll be a little hard to write with them on?"

"No."

"Aren't you hot?"

"No."

"It's like a thousand degrees in here and you're still wearing all your layers."

"I'm fine!"

"Anna, you should at least-" But then he saw it. There on her face right beside her ear. Covered under layers and layers of foundation and blush was the faint shadow of a bruise. If that bruise were just an accident, she would not have gone through so much trouble to try and cover it up like that.

Kristoff took a deep breath to try and keep his voice steady. "Anna," he said slowly, "What is that on your face?"

Anna slowly raised a hand to the spot. She knew exactly what he was talking about. She swallowed hard. "This?" she said timidly, "It's... it's nothing really. I just hit my face on my dresser when I bent down to pick up my backpack this morning. You know me! Always a klutz!"

Kristoff shook his head. "Anna, you're a terrible liar," he said, "If someone hurt you-"

"It wasn't on purpose! He didn't mean to!" Anna interrupted.

"Who?" Kristoff demanded.

"Hans!" Anna cried, "I was over at his place and we started kissing and after a while, things started to get a little rough."

Kristoff felt his blood boil. He clenched his fists until his fingers turned white. "What do you mean "a little rough"?"

"He just got carried away, that's all," Anna explained, "We were all over the apartment. I'm not very big or experienced, it's not his fault. It's mine. It won't happen again."

Kristoff closed his eyes, attempting to control the fury bubbling to the surface. "Did you-? I mean you didn't...?" he couldn't even finish his sentence. The image was too horrible to imagine.

"No, no," Anna said, "We didn't."

"But, he hit you?" Kristoff asked, gesturing to the bruise on her cheek, "What else happened?"

Anna sighed then removed her mittens and hat, and rolled up her sleeves. She had a large bandage wrapped around one of her wrists and forearm while the other was littered with bruises and small cuts. One giant bruise peered out from below her hairline. Kristoff at first could not even move, shocked, but slowly it morphed into rage.

He began to breathe heavily. Just the thought of anybody even touching her made him want to punch a hole in something. His jaw tightened and he clenched his fists once more. He closed his eyes, attempting to control it. If he so much as moved, he might flip the table or something.

"Kristoff? Kristoff, it's OK. Kristoff?" Anna's voice barely broke through his foggy mind, "Kristoff, calm down. Everything's going to be fine. It's not going to happen again. I promise."

He just shook his head, eyes still closed. This was too much. Something had to be done. He knew this guy was no good for her before, but now? Actually physically hurting her? No. Too far.

He felt a pair of small hands pulling on his arm. "Come on, we need to get you out of here," he heard Anna's voice saying.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Thanks for the milkshake," Kristoff said as he and Anna walked side by side down town.

"My pleasure," Anna said, "Didn't you say they always make you feel better no matter what?"

Kristoff gave a small smile. "You got me," he replied.

They continued to walk and Anna looked around at the buildings as they passed, curiously. "I've never been to this part of town before," she remarked.

Kristoff suddenly seemed to become aware of their surroundings. A look of recognition flashed through his eyes briefly before he replied to her as casually as possible, "Don't uh... we usually walk back this way?"

Anna raised her eyebrows. "We've only ever gone to get milkshakes once before, and afterwards we went our own ways."

"Oh..." Kristoff said, distracted.

"Do you know where we are?" Anna wondered after a moment of silence.

Kristoff gave a half shrug. "Well... my family kind of lives down here."

Anna perked up at the mention of his family. "Really?" she asked, "Where?"

Kristoff pointed. "Just down the street, around the corner," he said, "They own the bakery down there."

Anna grinned up at him. "We should go visit!" she cried, "I'd love to meet your parents."

"Yeah, um... that might be a bit difficult, seeing as I don't have any," Kristoff said.

Anna froze. She had an ultra annoying habit of always putting her foot in her mouth, but this had to take the cake. She turned towards him, jaw slack and eyes pleading. "Oh my... I didn't... I am so sorry!" she said.

"Hey, it's fine," he replied, "It was a long time ago. I barely even remember it."

"What happened?" Anna asked cautiously, hoping desperately that she wasn't prying.

"Car accident," Kristoff replied, "I wasn't in the car, so I was fine."

"How old were you?" Anna asked.

"Four," Kristoff said.

Anna suddenly pounced on him, squeezing him around the middle. "I am so sorry! I can't even imagine!"

He patted her on the back, probably his way of hugging her back. "It's OK," he said, "My grandparents took me in."

Anna released him and pulled back. "They did?"

"Yeah. They're the ones who own the bakery."

Anna shuffled her feet. "Can we... can we still go visit?" she wondered.

Kristoff cracked a smile. "Sure. I guess for a bit. I need to ask them something anyways."

They began walking once more in the direction of the bakery. Anna noticed Kristoff was suddenly looking a bit nervous. "Are you OK?" she asked him.

"Yeah, it's just... about my family. Well, it's not _just_ my grandparents. See, they're kind of... getting on in years, so my aunts have been running the place. They also helped raise me and they're well...," he paused trying to come up with the right words, "I don't want to scare you or anything, they can be a little inappropriate and... loud. Very loud. They're also stubborn at times and a little overbearing. But, they're fine. You'll get it. They mean well."

"Kristoff," Anna had to stop his nervous rambling before he had a breakdown, "They sound wonderful."

Kristoff nodded. "Alright then," he said, hen he marched forward towards a building labeled "Trolls Rolls".

"And here we are," Kristoff announced, opening the door.

Inside was what any typical bakery shop would look like with a counter and a couple small tables. At the counter, behind a pane of glass sat all assortments of breads, pastries, cakes, brownies, cookies, pies, rolls, donuts, and so on. A girl, probably not much older than Anna, stood behind the counter, idly wiping a spatula. She looked up as the bell on the door jingled when they entered. Her eyes brightened up at the sight of them.

"Kristoff!" she cried happily.

"Hey, Louise," he greeted her.

She put down her spatula then actually hopped over the counter and rushed towards them until she flung her arms around Kristoff. "It's so good to see you!" she cried.

"Yeah, you too," Kristoff said.

Anna just watched from behind. The girl, Louise, finally noticed her. "And, you're being completely rude," she said to Kristoff, giving him a playful nudge, "Who's this?"

"Oh this is my friend, Anna," Kristoff said, "Anna, this is my cousin, Louise."

"Hi, Anna! It's so great to meet you!" Louise declared, grabbing Anna's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. Anna was just grateful it wasn't her injured one.

"You too," Anna said, smiling.

"Kristoff, you didn't tell me you had such pretty friends," Louise said, "I thought it was just going to be you and bed-head boy forever."

"You mean Sven?" Kristoff said, then he smirked, "He does kind of have bed-head, doesn't he?"

"So are you two...?" Louise began, gesturing to the two of them.

Anna instantly felt herself blush and Kristoff crossed his arms. "You would like that wouldn't you?" he said, "No. Just friends."

"Aw, too bad," Louise said, "You guys look so cute together, even though this guy is kind of a slob, but still if you just..."

"Is Aunt Bulda around anywhere!?" Kristoff loudly interrupted.

"Yeah, in the back," Louise replied, "Everyone's back there actually."

"Great," Kristoff said, "Come on, Anna."

"Bye!" Anna waved to Louise before following Kristoff behind a curtain.

Anna was surprised by a massive room filled with shelves, pots, pans, ovens, stoves, sinks, counters, etc. It was much larger than she had been expecting. As soon as they had entered, Kristoff shouted, "Hey, guys!"

It was then that Anna noticed all the people inside, crouched down behind shelves, huddled over stoves, bent over mixing bowls. At Kristoff's voice, they all simultaneously stopped what they were doing and looked up.

"KRISTOFF!" one of the women, with her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun, cried out ecstatically.

Everyone began to echo the sentiment with equal enthusiasm.

A small, thin woman with dark blonde hair approached Kristoff and took his hand his her's. "Aw, my baby's all grown up!" she cooed happily.

"Aunt Millie, you saw me two weeks ago," Kristoff said.

"That's time enough to grow!"

Another woman approached, grabbing his arm. "Have you been doing your laundry, young man?" she asked sternly.

"Yes," Kristoff answered.

"Have you been using that fabric softener I gave you?" she asked.

"Yes, Aunt Janice, and my clothes are a hundred times softer!" Kristoff replied dryly.

A young boy suddenly came running around a shelf. "Kristoff! Kristoff!" he squealed.

He ran right into Kristoff's arms. "Hey! What are you doing back here?" Kristoff asked him.

"Daddy's taking us for ice cream after work," the boy said, grinning.

""Us"?" Kristoff turned to look just as a wild throng of children came bursting out from behind the shelf and towards him, screaming happily.

They all basically attacked Kristoff, clambering up him or clinging to his arms and legs as he struggled for balance. "Whoa! It's the little monkeys!" Kristoff cried, laughing.

"Kristoff, did you bring anything?"

"Kristoff, where's Sven?"

"Kristoff, what's school like?"

"Kristoff, if I keep making this face, will it get stuck that way?"

Anna still stood in the doorway completely unnoticed by the family, but she didn't mind. She liked just watching Kristoff interact with the kids. She gave a small laugh as she watched one of them honk his nose.

That was when the dark-haired woman noticed her. Her eyes widened for a moment, then she grinned. "Everybody! Kristoff's brought a girl!" she announced.

Everyone turned to look at her, then each of them broke out into wide grins. Kristoff put down the kids and moved over to Anna. "Yeah, uh... everyone! This is Anna," he said.

Anna gave a wave. "Hi!"

The dark-haired woman approached in excitement. Kristoff gestured to her, "This is my Aunt Bulda. She runs this place."

Bulda smiled and looked Anna up and down for a moment. "Mm, yes. Yes! Yes!" she declared, "Perfect! You are a spectacular match for our little Kristoff."

Anna felt the blush rising to her cheeks once more. Kristoff covered his face. "No, you guys," he said.

"Yeah, I'm not... we're not. We don't..." Anna said, trying to find the right way to say it without sounding too harsh.

Bulda smiled. "Mm, I see, I see. Just give it some time."

"Er, no," Kristoff said, "She has a boyfriend."

"Well boyfriends come and go," a balding man spoke up from behind a counter, "But true matches like this stick through the hardest of times."

Kristoff covered his face once more, but didn't say anything.

"True love is sacrifice," an older woman said, "True love is loyalty, true love is protection, true love is putting another's needs before yours."

Anna's curiosity was piqued. Maybe she could learn a little something from this. "And you think we have that?" she asked.

"Well, you look at a couple and you can just sense a closeness and you can just tell... they're right for each other. They've got that true love," the old woman answered.

"Is grandpappie around?" Kristoff suddenly asked loudly.

"He's napping in his chair in the office," Bulda answered, pointing.

"Thanks," Kristoff said, "I'll be right back, Anna, then we can go."

And he quickly made his way in the direction that Bulda had pointed.

Everyone watched him disappear. There was silence for a moment then Bulda sighed. "Poor kid. He's been through a lot," she said to Anna, "You know he actually watched his parents's car get hit by that maniac driver."

Anna looked at her. "What?"

"Yeah, he was standing right there and they were driving to pick him up from our house when the guy came out of nowhere. Smashed the car like an accordion. He's been afraid to get inside a car ever since. Not that he doesn't, but he avoids it when he can."

So that explained his phobia. Anna instantly felt a pang of sympathy towards him. It explained a lot about him. His loneliness, his bitterness. He was just shutting out his past pain and any future pain.

The man in question appeared again. "Ready to go, Anna?" he asked.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

They began to make their way towards the exit. "Bye, guys," Kristoff called.

Everyone gave their goodbyes. Anna waved, "Bye!"

"Bye, Anna! Come again soon!" everyone chorused.

"I will! I promise!" Anna said. And with that she turned and followed Kristoff out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Okay, this was the last sort of filler-like chapter. Things are about to start picking up._


	14. Find Anna

_Look at this fast update! You're welcome! XP (i just had a load of inspiration, lots of free time, and no writer's block)_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kristoff found Olaf and Sven sitting at the usual spot near the Castle Building. He half ran, half slipped over to them. "Kristoff, what's going on?" Sven asked as he approached, "You sounded pretty desperate on the phone this morning."

"Yeah, why did we have to meet so urgently?" Olaf asked.

Kristoff caught his breath then looked them squarely in the eyes. "Hans has gone too far," he said.

"What? What do you mean?" Sven asked.

"What happened?" Olaf wondered.

"Yesterday at tutoring, Anna came in..." Kristoff began, "Wrapped up in layers of clothing that she wouldn't take up no matter how hot it was. Come to find out, she was trying to hide all these bruises and bandages all over herself."

Olaf and Sven gasped.

"She even tried covering one on her face with makeup!" Kristoff said, clenching his fists at the memory.

"Hans?" Olaf asked slowly.

Kristoff nodded. "And she's still convinced that he loves her and that he didn't mean it, but... I can't take this anymore! I know we promised to stay out of it, but this is more than just unhealthy. It's obscene!"

Sven and Olaf glanced at each other. "What do we do?" Sven asked.

Kristoff nodded, relieved that they were on his side. "I talked to my grandpa last night and told him the whole story," he explained, "He says that the best thing we can do is to get Anna to see sense in any way we can."

"How do we do that?" Olaf asked, "She won't listen to us."

"My grandpa says that maybe we don't understand the full problem," Kristoff said, "He says maybe there's something deeper to this that we're not seeing."

"So what do we do?" Sven asked once more.

"I think we need to go to Anna... and just listen," Kristoff concluded, "Try to get to the bottom of this."

Olaf stood up straight, a look of determination in his eyes. "Let's go!" he declared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Nobody's home," Olaf remarked.

"You don't know that," Kristoff said.

"All the lights are off," Olaf said.

"We could still try," Kristoff insisted.

Olaf shrugged, then approached the door and knocked. Nothing happened. "I told you," Olaf said.

"Where is she?" Sven wondered, "Doesn't she usually come home right after class for dinner?"

"Maybe she's with _him_," Kristoff did not even want to say the name.

"She did say something about meeting up with him tonight, but she said it was going to be a late night movie," Olaf said.

"It's a little early for a "late night" movie, isn't it?" Kristoff remarked.

"Maybe they had other... plans?" Sven suggested, glancing at Kristoff cautiously.

Kristoff's jaw tightened. He did not even want to think about what those other "plans" may be.

"Or she could just be studying at the library or something," Olaf said.

"One way to find out," Sven said, pulling out his phone. He began to dial and held it to his ear.

After a moment he stuck the phone back in his pocket. "Voicemail," he said.

"So maybe she _is_ in the library and just can't answer her phone," Olaf said optimistically.

"Or maybe she's too busy with _him_ to notice her phone ringing," Kristoff said through clenched teeth.

"Or maybe she just has it on silence and she's just downtown or something. You know she likes to explore down there," Sven suggested, feeling slightly anxious about the murderous tone to Kristoff's voice. "Look, why don't we split up and try and find her. Olaf, you can go to the library. _I_ will go to Hans's apartment." He narrowed his eyes at Kristoff before continuing, "And Kristoff, you can go look downtown."

Kristoff saw that Sven was not going to budge on this. He frowned, but reluctantly agreed, "Fine."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kristoff shoved his hands into his pockets as he marched down the sidewalk into town.

It probably was a good thing that Sven was going to Hans's apartment instead of him. If he faced that guy now, he might actually tear his head off. Then he'd be arrested for murder, and then where would he be? Well, at least Anna would be free of that little weasel's grasp, so at least there'd be that. But no. Murdering was never a good thing.

The walk in the cold night air was doing him good too. It gave him a chance to boil down a bit. The sun had just set and snow was beginning to fall lightly around him. It had a calming effect on him. He took a deep breath. Alright, if he were Anna going downtown, where would she go?

He thought for a moment then recalled her mentioning... sandwiches! That's right. She said they were her favorite food, and it _was_ dinner time. Kristoff racked his brain, trying to remember all the sandwich places in town. If she had gone to one of them, which one would it be?

Then he remembered, in the back of his mind from a long time ago, Anna talking about her first date. She had said that Hans took her to eat sandwiches. He tried to remember if she had mentioned the name of the shop... He couldn't recall. But he did remember that she had mentioned that he also took her to shops for trinkets. So the sandwich shop couldn't have been too far away from the tourist track, right? ...Well, it was a start.

He immediately headed in that direction. The shops were not too far from Anna's home, which was encouraging. Although who knew if Hans liked to whisk Anna to far off places for dates or not. However, all worries were cast aside when Kristoff came face to face with a sandwich shop "Buck and Lee's Sandwiches". This had to be it!

He quickly made his way over to it and entered. It was empty except for the girl standing behind the counter, wiping down some trays. She smiled at him as he entered. "Hello! How can I help you?"

Kristoff approached the counter. "Hi," he said, "Sorry, this might seem a little weird, but have you seen a red-haired girl come in here, about this high?" He held his hand up to his shoulder, about Anna's height, "She's got blue eyes, a white streak in her hair. She usually wears her hair in braids..."

"Oh yeah, Anna! I know her," the girl answered, smiling, "She comes in here all the time. Orders this giant custom sandwich. We call it the 'Anna Special'. She's usually with this other guy. What's his name... Hands?"

Kristoff pursed his lips. "Hans?"

"Hans, yeah," the girl said, "Boy, he's a looker, isn't he?"

"Yeah, sure," Kristoff said, having absolutely no interest in discussing Hans at all, "Look, has she come in here recently? Like tonight maybe?"

"Nope. Actually, I haven't seen her for several days," the girl replied.

Kristoff frowned. It was worth a try he supposed.

"But that Hans guy was in here a little while ago," the girl said, "He just left."

Kristoff felt himself tense up at the mention of Hans's name. He looked at the girl. "Did you see where he went?" he asked cooly.

"Just outside," she said, "Some girl came in and he left with her. They probably haven't gotten too far, that was just a few minutes before you got here."

Kristoff looked towards the door. "Thanks," he said to the girl.

He quickly exited the shop. Now what? Hans could have gone in any direction. He walked out into the street. Which way, which way? The street was pretty empty for a Friday night. Just a few people running in and out of shops, ducking for cover out of the cold. There was a couple sitting across the street on the steps to the Town Hall, cuddled up against each other. Wait... the guy looked an awful lot like... Hans.

Kristoff watched as Hans and Mystery Girl scooted closer together. Then, much to his absolute horror, Hans leaned over and kissed Mystery Girl right on the lips. Okay, this was just a whole new level of low! Kristoff crossed the street. How...? What...? Just... he could not comprehend the sheer magnitude of douche this guy had bottled up inside of him.

Once across the street, Kristoff stuck his hands into his pockets and casually began to stroll towards the kissing couple... or slobbering-over-each-other's-faces couple, whistling as loudly and obnoxiously as possible, hoping to draw attention to himself. It worked. Hans pulled away from the girl and looked in his direction.

Kristoff nodded casually at them. "Evening," he said, pretending not to recognize him.

"Hey, you're Anna's friend, aren't you?" Hans said.

Kristoff stopped. He had hoped Hans would recognize him, but he had not expected him to actually stop him and talk to him. That meant he had no shame in what he was doing. It took all of Kristoff's self control not to pound him right there. He turned and peered at him, pretending to try and remember for a moment. "Oh yeah, Hans," he said, "I didn't even recognize you... up there."

"Christopher, right?" Hans asked.

"Kristoff," Kristoff corrected flatly.

"Yeah," Hans said, not really paying much attention.

"So... where's Anna?" Kristoff asked, eyeing the girl still wrapped around Hans.

Hans shrugged. "I don't know, her house? Am I her keeper or something?"

"I guess not," Kristoff said, "But you would think you'd want to know where she was at all times if you want to keep _this_ up."

Hans's stare turned cold. He removed his arm from around the girl. "Why don't you go find yourself a nice pair of shoes or something?" he said to her without taking his eyes from Kristoff, "I've got something to deal with."

The girl frowned, but did as she was told. As soon as she was gone, Hans stood up and glared at Kristoff. "I really don't see how any of this is your business," he said, darkly.

Kristoff shook his head. "You are ridiculous, you know that?" he said, "She is an amazing girl and you treat her like she's a piece of dirt. First the beating, now cheating?"

"Hey!" Hans snapped, "You better not go snitch to her. I know you've got a little crush on her. I've seen you. But let's face it, she'd rather be with me and not some scruffy loner like you."

Kristoff clenched and unclenched his fists, attempting to control himself. He took a step closer to Hans. "Look, pal. You may think you're king of the world right now," he said quietly, "But let me tell you something. One day, all of this is going to end when all your lies come crumbling down around you... And you'll have nothing. Nobody. Anna will have found a new, better life... far away from you."

Hans scoffed. "What? And you think you'll have something to do with that little fantasy of yours?"

"I never said that, but I do know it'll be better," Kristoff said, "Because you'll be out of the picture."

Hans scowled at him with contempt, Kristoff matching his stare. "Well good luck with that," Hans finally said. With that, he turned away.

Kristoff watched him go, anger still fuming inside him. This had to end now... And he knew just how to do it.

He pulled out his phone and dialed. "Hey, Olaf... No, I didn't find her, but I think I know how to talk some sense into her. I just need some information from you first..."


	15. Ultimatum

_I'm not super pleased with how this turned out, but I'm sick of looking at it._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"...So she's not at the library either?" Kristoff asked.

"Nope," Olaf responded into the phone as he stood just outside the library.

"You know, this could be a long shot, but try looking in the room where we tutor," Kristoff suggested.

"Okay!" Olaf agreed, "Where's that?"

"The Barnes Building, room 23," Kristoff answered, "I don't know why she'd be there, but it can't hurt to look."

"Yeah, I'll go," Olaf said.

"Okay. And thanks for the info," Kristoff said.

"You're welcome. Good luck! Hope it works!"

"Me too. See ya." And with that, Kristoff hung up.

Olaf stuck his phone into his pocket and immediately headed for the Barnes Building. It was far, but not too far from the library. He didn't mind walking to it though, especially if Anna might be inside it. It was snowing all around, which just made him want to prance. But the issue at hand held him back.

He reached the Barnes Building in good time and quickly found room 23. He opened the door. "Anna?" he called.

Inside, huddled up in the far corner of the room sat Anna, arms wrapped around her legs, and face buried into her knees, her shoulders shaking with sobs. Olaf immediately rushed inside to her side. "Anna!" he cried, crouching down beside her, "What's wrong?"

"Olaf?" she asked, looking up at him, "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you," he said, "You weren't home or at the library or with Hans or anywhere and we were worried."

""We"?" Anna repeated.

"Me, Kristoff, and Sven," Olaf said, "What are you doing here? What's wrong?"

Anna wiped her eyes. "I just... its a good place to be alone, this room."

"Why do you want be alone?" Olaf asked.

"I... can't," Anna choked.

"What?"

"I have to do it. It's the only way."

"Do what? What are you talking about?"

"I've been given an ultimatum," Anna said, "Just a couple hours ago, Hans called me. He said... he said..."

She sniffled, attempting to hold back more sobs, only to fail miserably and continue crying into her knees. Olaf scooted closer to her and put both his arms around her in a tight hug. "What? What did he say?" he asked gently.

"He told me that if I didn't... didn't sleep with him, we were over," Anna finally choked through her sobs, "He said that if we truly meant something to each other, I would go through with it."

Olaf's mouth rounded into an "O". "He's just giving you this ultimatum now?" he asked.

Anna sighed, burying her face into her hands. "No! I mean he's just giving me the _ultimatum_ now, but he's been trying to get me to do this for a while now," she cried.

"Like how long?" Olaf asked.

"It first started the day he told me he loved me," Anna replied, wiping at her red, puffy eyes, "That was the day I got mad at you guys, you know?"

Olaf nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"That was the first time he told me he loved me and I decided that I loved him too," Anna went on, "After we, you know... kissed a bit, it started to get really, erm... passionate? But I stopped it before he managed to go too far. He tried to coax me into it, because it would be the perfect way to seal our love, but I just wasn't ready. He seemed understanding enough, not happy, but he let me go. I felt so bad and stupid after I left, and that's when I met you guys."

"And he's been asking you ever since?" Olaf asked.

Anna nodded. "Almost every day," she said, "But I just haven't been ready for it. I've been telling him that and I thought he understood, but now..."

She let out a tormented sob. "I don't want him to leave me!" she cried through her tears, "He's the only one who loves me, I can't let that go. I'll just... I'll just have to sleep with him."

"Anna, you don't mean that," Olaf said.

"It's true," she said, "I thought Elsa loved me, but then she ran off and shut me out. Hans is all I have left."

"That's not true. Don't say that," Olaf insisted, "There are so many people who care about you! Like your parents must right? I mean, they're your _parents_!"

Anna didn't say anything and just stared ahead at the ground, clutching her knees to her chest. Olaf continued. "And I know that I do," he said, "You're my best friend, I'd do anything for you. And then there's Kristoff. I mean, he's basically completely in love with you. And then Sven..."

"Wait, what?" Anna interrupted, lifting her head and facing him.

"You know Sven? How he's always so happy to see you?" Olaf said, "You know, sometimes he kind of reminds me of a giant puppy."

"No," Anna said, "About Kristoff being in love with me."

Olaf stared at her, tilting his head and furrowing his brow. "Wow, you really haven't noticed?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

Anna looked back ahead, comprehending this new information. Olaf was silent for a moment. Then he asked, "Anna... what exactly has been going on with you and Hans lately? Really?"

Anna glanced at him briefly. "I suppose you've already heard about our little incident the other day?" She rolled up her sleeve, revealing the gauze wrapped around her wrist. "And this?" She turned her head so that Olaf could see a bruise on her cheek.

"That wasn't first time he was rough with me though," Anna said, "That was just the first time it really showed. If anything was really visible before, I just put on a little makeup and it was like it was never there."

Olaf's eyes widened. "No," he said quietly, "How could you let someone do that to you?"

"I just told myself it wouldn't happen again," Anna replied, "It wasn't like it happened everyday or anything. He didn't mean it, really. It wasn't on purpose. And it didn't hurt that bad anyways."

Olaf didn't respond, thinking. "Have you even done anything you've wanted to do since you started dating him?" he asked after a moment.

"Well... no not exactly," Anna responded, "But he's more experienced than me. I just always figured that he knew best. I didn't want to do anything wrong."

"But... but that's the great thing about life," Olaf said, "Making mistakes and learning from them. It makes you a better person! If you _always_ follow someone, you're not becoming a new and better person, you're becoming _them_. How boring would the world be if we all did the exact same things the exact same way? Besides, how do you know that the person you're following is really the best example?"

Anna shrugged slightly. "He always has seemed so nice... and perfect."

"Does he still?" Olaf asked carefully.

"Well... I just... he's..." Anna stammered, "Maybe?"

Olaf exhaled. "Look, I may not know a lot of things, but if there's one thing I do know, it's love," he said, "And love is not making someone do something they don't want to do. Love is... putting someone else's needs before yours."

Anna rested her chin on her knees once more, sighing softly. "I don't know," she said hopelessly.

"Sure you do," Olaf said, hugging her again, "You just don't know you know. But you will. You'll figure it out."

Anna sighed, sniffling slightly. Then she glanced at the clock. "Don't you have a curfew?" she asked finally.

"You are more important to me than angry apartment managers," Olaf replied, smiling warmly, "I'll climb the wall to my complex any night for you."

Anna looked at him and almost smiled. Suddenly the silence was broken by a loud buzzing. Olaf looked around, confused, while Anna reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. When she looked at it, her face dropped and her eyes widened.

"What? What is it?" Olaf wondered.

"It's a text... from Elsa," Anna answered in numb shock.

She slowly looked up from the phone and at Olaf, an expression of pure incredulity and tension written across her face. "She wants me to come over to her apartment right away."


	16. The Truth

_Quick update! Because I had most of this chapter written ages ago, like back when I first started writing this story. Also, I got a record number of reviews on the last chapter which are always encouraging. So being the obliging person that I am, I decided not to keep you in suspense and __hold it back from you_. And so without further ado, the much-anticipated Elsa chapter:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There it was right in front of her. The blue door of room 53, The Frozen North. Anna could hardly believe this was happening. Had Elsa- the one who had not spoken a word or even acknowledged her for months- actually called and asked her to come over? What was going on? Was this all just a weird dream?

Anna took a deep breath, raised her fist, and knocked. Immediately, she heard the lock unlatching and saw the doorknob slowly turning. Then, she saw one blue eye, undeniably Elsa's peering out at her. "Anna?" Elsa's soft voice spoke.

"Elsa? It's me," Anna said, leaning closer, "You... called?"

The door quickly closed and Anna felt her spirits drop. Why would she call her over just to slam the door in her face again? However, she heard the chain over the door unlatching and soon the door was opening once more, this time much wider so that Anna could see Elsa in full.

She was just as stunning as Anna remembered. With platinum blonde hair pulled into a thick braid. She wore a thin, blue sweater that brought out her bright blue eyes even more. Her skin was snowy white, like she hadn't been out in the sun in months, which come to think of it, she probably hadn't. But the complexion was beautiful on her nonetheless. Anna had always felt like the less attractive one next to her, but she didn't mind. She had always been proud to call Elsa her sister.

"Come in," Elsa said, moving aside so that Anna could enter.

Anna took a step inside. The interior of Elsa's apartment had not been what she had expected at all. Based on Elsa's reclusive nature, she had expected it to be dark and drab, with bare walls and plain furniture, and hardly any lights, while she would just sit in the corner huddled up like a frightened animal, alone in the dark. However, once she stepped inside, she was greeted with soft classical music playing in the background. The walls were painted a light turquoise blue. Also hanging on the walls were... Anna wasn't sure, but they were thin purple and pink glass decor of some sort, kind of shaped like waving streamers. The many lamps around the room reflected off the glass and made the walls look like they glimmered. The walls' many hues shimmered down onto her white sofa and chair.

Anna stared in awe. "Whoa, Elsa. This place, it's... whoa." She didn't know how to describe it. Simple, but elegant?

"Thank you," Elsa said, closing the door and locking it behind her.

She moved over to a small set of speakers and quickly shut off the music. Then she turned back to Anna. "Do you want to sit?" she asked.

"Oh um, OK," Anna said.

They both moved over to the couch and sat down. There was a short silence. Anna wrung her hands together. What was happening? She cleared her throat. "So..." she began awkwardly.

"Anna, you have to break up with Hans," Elsa said quickly.

"Why did you want me to come over here?" Anna asked at the same time.

Anna stared at her sister. "What?" she asked.

Elsa took a breath. "I said, you have to break up with Hans," she repeated.

"What? Why?" Anna asked, caught off guard. This had not been what she had been expecting.

"Because he's a no-good, manipulative, sleazeball, scumbag, spawn of the devil," Elsa responded.

Anna lowered her eyebrows. "What are you talking about? How do you know? You've never even met him! You _wouldn't_ meet him! You slammed the door in our faces after shouting at us! After shouting at _me_! Calling me a monster."

Elsa blinked. "I never called you a monster," she said.

"Yes you did," Anna said, "I remember it clearly. I brought Hans over to meet you and when you opened the door, you began shouting and you said exactly: "Stay away. I've told you, you monster.""

Elsa's face dropped. "And you thought I said that to you?"

"Well, didn't you? You did tell me to stay away before that. Who else would you be talking to?"

"Hans!" Elsa said.

Anna stopped. It was a moment before she spoke again. "Why... why would you say that to Hans?"

"Because he's a no-good, manipulative, sleazeball, scumbag, spawn of the devil," Elsa repeated herself.

"But... how do you know him?" Anna asked, "He said he had never met you before."

Elsa scoffed slightly. "He _would_ say that," she said, "Well, that's a long, brutal story."

Anna stared at her, confused and inquisitive. Elsa closed her eyes and took a deep breath as though she were calling back all her memories. "It was back in my freshman year," she began, eyes still closed, "I didn't really have any friends or anything. I just went to class everyday then went home."

She finally opened her eyes. "No one really ever paid any attention to me... or so I thought," she said, "One day I had to go to Student Services to look into an internship. The boy at the desk told me that he had seen me come into the building everyday and always noticed me. He told me he thought I was one of the most gorgeous girls he had ever seen in his life. Well, of course I soaked in everything that he said. I had never been noticed by anybody in my life and here was this boy- this older, amazingly good-looking boy- who told me I was pretty."

Elsa sighed. "He asked for my number right then and there," she said, "And within the week he called me."

Anna leaned forward. "Hans?"

Elsa nodded. "Hans," she said, "As you probably know, he was the most charming, perfect guy. The ultimate dreamboat, prince charming, Casanova, whatever. I was completely swept off my feet by the end of our first date."

She shook her head bitterly. "Little did I know," she mumbled.

"What?" Anna asked.

"Well we dated for a while," Elsa said, "A few months. It was a very passionate relationship. I was convinced I was in love. Then it got to midterms and that was the first time he asked me." Her face hardened.

Anna immediately understood. "To...?"

"Yeah. He told me he loved me and I couldn't have been happier. I was so in love with him that I returned the sentiment without question," Elsa continued, "That was when he asked me. Actually, he more _told_ me. He said it as a matter of fact, like "since we love each other, we should seal our love in the most tender way possible". I was caught off guard by it, but I actually considered it. However, I decided against it. It didn't feel right."

She sighed. "But that didn't stop him," she said, "He kept asking and asking and asking. But I stayed firm in my answer... for the rest of the year."

Elsa leaned against the arm of the sofa and covered her face with her hand. Anna leaned closer to her, concerned. "What? What happened?" she asked gently.

"I gave in," Elsa said, "He broke me down, piece by piece and finally I said yes. Just two weeks before finals, I went over to his place and we did it. Sealed the deal. Made _love_."

Anna could hear her voice cracking slightly. She sounded so sick when she said it. Anna scooted closer to her and reached out a hand. "Elsa..." she said, softly.

"But that wasn't the worst of it!" Elsa cried, "Oh no, there's so much more!"

Anna pulled her hand back as Elsa sat up straight and looked her straight in the eye. "After our little night together, he came to me and wanted me to do it again," Elsa said, eyes narrow, "Well, I just felt so wrong about it and didn't really want to. I told him I thought one time was enough for the time being. He got upset and insisted on it. "Don't I mean anything to you?" he said. I got upset as well and told him that love is not all about having sex all the time... And that was when he showed me the tape."

Anna's eyes widened. "The... tape?"

"Yes. The video tape he had taken of us in his room," Elsa said, her eyes beginning to brim with tears, "He had filmed the entire thing and threatened to put it up for all to see if I didn't do as he said."

Elsa shook her head, wiping at her eyes. "You can imagine, I didn't want to sleep with him then. The dirty tramp," she mumbled, "But I didn't want that tape up for people to ogle at either. But what could I do? I weighed my choices and finally decided that I'd rather put up with the humiliation of the sex tape if it meant Hans was out of my life."

She took a deep breath. "So that's what happened. At first it was fine, but gradually, people began avoiding me even more than before and I would randomly get wolf-whistles from creeps on the street. Then, I started getting notes left in my bag and coat pockets about my "technique" and stuff. Soon, it got to be too much and I had to leave. I got my own apartment out here and started taking online classes. It was good for a couple years... until Hans found me. Now I've started getting knocks from some of my "fans"."

Anna reached out to her once again. "Elsa, I am so sorry," she said, "I was the one who brought Hans here. I had no idea."

"No, Anna. I'm sorry," Elsa said, "I should have told you about him sooner. I was afraid though. So I thought by distancing myself from you, he would leave you alone. But, I forgot, he's not about revenge. He's just malicious. I mean looking at all the other girls..."

"Wait, what do you mean "other girls"?" Anna asked.

Elsa reached down beside the couch and pulled up a white laptop. "Oh I've done some research since I've been locked away," she said, opening the laptop, "I wasn't the first girl Hans has targeted."

Anna scooted over so she could see the screen. Elsa pulled up a website. The Southern Isle's Life. It wasn't very extravagant, just a giant gaudy title at the top and a few videos listed below it, each with their own smaller titles.

"Seven girls he's got so far," Elsa said, gesturing to the videos, "He's been at this for a while. At least once a year since he was pretty young, he picks out a girl and then just manipulates them until he gets them to sleep with him. Then he films it and hangs it over their head, threatening to put it up here unless they continue to do so. He gives each of them a nickname. See?"

She pointed to each video. "The Golden Sun, Rose Red, Arabic Beauty..." She swallowed and pointed to one. "Ice Queen."

"That's you?" Anna asked quietly.

Elsa nodded.

Anna leaned forward onto her knees. "I can't believe this," she whispered, "How could he do this? I mean, I really thought..."

She felt tears brimming at her eyes. Elsa noticed and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I know," she said.

Anna leaned into her shoulder, the tears now coming freely. Elsa wrapped both her arms around her and hugged her close. "I know," she whispered again, rocking her back and forth.

"That no-good, manipulative, sleazeball, scumbag, spawn of the devil," Anna muttered into her sister's shoulder.

Elsa gave a slight chuckle. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Anna sniffled. "So what made you suddenly decide to tell me all of this?"

"Well... tonight I got a knock on my door," Elsa began slowly, "I thought it was just going to be one of my "fans" harassing me, so I ignored it. But then a voice came after it, calling my name. It said that they needed to talk to me right away, something about you being in trouble. It was enough to capture my interest. No one had ever come around mentioning you before, so I opened the door for him. He told me he was a friend of yours then explained your entire situation to me."

Anna gave a small nod. Elsa continued. "He said he needed my help because he was worried about you and didn't know what else to do."

"Which friend was it?" Anna asked.

"Um, big guy," Elsa answered, "Kristoff? I think."

Anna stared ahead. Kristoff. The sound of his name sent a warm feeling through her body. Kristoff, her tutor, her friend. Kristoff... who was in love with her?

Anna took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, then she sat up. "I just remembered, I'm supposed to go meet Hans in a little bit," she said, suddenly frowning.

Elsa saw the dark look come into her little sister's eyes. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

Anna stood up. "I'm putting the spork in this," she said, "I mean... you know what I mean. I can't think when I'm this mad!"

She marched over to the door and unbolted it. She opened it and then turned back to Elsa. "This ends now."


	17. Confrontation

_Ahhhh! We are so close to the end! This is the second to last chapter._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anna wrapped her arms around herself as she marched away from Elsa's apartment. She couldn't believe it. She could not believe! How could she have let herself get mixed up in this? She shook her head. She knew exactly why. Because she was young and ignorant and Hans was handsome and charming. How could she _not_ fall for him?

She noticed that the snow that had been falling when she had first walked over to Elsa's had now stopped, leaving a thin blanket of white everywhere. She would have loved to revel in the beauty of it glistening in the moonlight, but she was too angry to stop.

She headed downtown towards Hans's apartment. Late night movie? She'd give him a late night movie _in the face_! ...That made no sense, but that was what she was going to do.

She passed by the sandwich shop. Their first date where she had been blinded by his flowery words and dashing smile. She knew he had to be too good to be true! She suddenly recalled something Kristoff had once said to her: "_if you find someone who is smart in all areas, they're probably a fake_". He had been right all along. Anna had just always supposed that she had been lucky enough to find an exception. Hans had seemed so good with people, in life, and was very intelligent. Too bad he was a fake after all.

As she passed the sandwich shop and rounded the corner onto the street that headed in the direction of Hans's apartment, she found it empty except for one person casually leaning against a dumpster outside a closed restaurant. It was eerily quiet, especially for a Friday night. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and marched on.

"Anna? Is that you?"

Anna stopped and looked towards the person leaning against the dumpster. She recognized that voice. "Hans?"

He pushed off of the dumpster and moved out of the shadows. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Anna stared coldly at him, although he probably could not really see it since there weren't many streetlights around. "I was just over at Elsa's," she told him.

"What? I thought you gave up on that," he said.

"I did, but then I got a text from her actually inviting me over."

"Really? What did she want?"

"Oh she had a lot to say..." Anna replied slowly.

There was silence for a moment while Hans just stared at Anna. Anna looked at him, her rose-colored glasses removed and finally able to see the monster that lurked underneath.

"How could you do that to her!?" Anna cried out, "To all those poor girls? Just... how _could_ you!?"

The look on his face told her he knew exactly what she was talking about. "What?" he asked, folding his arms, "I gave them a choice. They didn't have to go that route. Most of them usually took my deal for at least two or three more times if not more. Your sister was the only one to refuse it right away."

Anna shook her head. Had he no shame? "And what? You were just going to do the same with me? Get me in bed so you could film me, and then blackmail me with it until I finally couldn't take it anymore, and then turn me into a porn star?"

Hans smirked. "Well, as soon as I found out you were Elsa's little sister, I knew you had to be my next project. I figured since I had your sister by the end of the year, I would easily have you by midterms because you were _so_ desperate for love, you bowed to my wishes no matter what I did."

That was like a knife to the gut. Anna remembered everything her friends had been warning her about Hans's dominance in the relationship, the beating, etc.

"So it was all just a game to you?" Anna asked, "Nothing was real?"

"Please," Hans scoffed, "I have perfected the art of seduction. I know all the things that will make a girl fall all over me." He smirked, "I cannot believe everyone falls for that grandmother story crap. Every time. Let's see, my grandmother has died six, seven times now?"

He was so smug about all this. Anna could just imagine, if he had a mustache, he would be twirling it evilly. He made her completely sick. "You are absolutely revolting!" she said, glaring at him, "You know what? I've had enough. You can just go and live your pitiful, disgusting life on your own without me. I've had it!"

She turned on her heel to leave. However, she suddenly felt fingers wrapped around her wrist, yanking her back around. Hans grabbed her other wrist and held her close to his face. "You think this is over?" he hissed, "You think it's that easy?"

Anna fought against his grip, but he tightened his hold. "You may have escaped my original plan with the tape and everything, but I have worked too hard for too long to not get something out of this," he said, "All your endless chatter about chocolate and sandwiches and everything. And your constant clumsiness! I was going to nickname you Princess Tripster when I got your tape. I deserve something for all I put up with!"

Anna's eyes widened and she struggled against him again. She was going to go for a scream, but it was cut off by Hans smashing his slimy lips against hers in a heated, hungry kiss. There was nothing Anna could do. He had her hands pinioned against the wall behind her and her sound source was cut off by passionate kissing. She still squirmed against him, but her resistance was met with a hard smack across the face.

The hit momentarily stunned her into submission as her cheek stung, and Hans moved on to sucking at her neck. However, she could not let Hans have his way! She tried fighting once more. She kicked him and actually managed to get a scream in. However, this time in response, Hans actually shoved her backwards forcefully.

She stumbled and fell, hitting her head against the dumpster. A sharp pain shot through her head. She reached up the spot where she had been hit and felt blood trickling down the side of her face.

Hans was moving towards her once more. Everything seemed so fuzzy, Anna could barely register what was happening.

"Hans!" a voice called from behind them.

Hans slowly looked back and Anna managed to lift her head up enough to look as well. Elsa, in the flesh, stood wrapped up in a long, purple, billowing trench coat that waved in the gentle breeze. She had a look of forced confidence about her.

Hans turned towards her, a small smile playing on his lips. "Well, well, well," he hummed, "Look who's out of hiding."

"Leave her alone!" Elsa said.

"Why should I?"

"Because... because I know you're only doing this to get back at me," Elsa said, "I'm the only girl who said no right away and that hurt your ego. Please, don't take it out on my sister. She's not worth your time."

Hans raised an eyebrow. "Not worth my time? I've worked too hard to not get something out of this. I need my compensation and this is it." He pointed to Anna still lying on the ground.

"I have a better offer," Elsa said.

"Oh really? What?"

"Me."

Hans peered at her. "Be careful what you wish for."

"I mean it. Leave Anna alone and you can have what you always wanted," Elsa said.

Hans stared at her a moment longer, considering. "Deal," he said and then pounced.

Anna had had been lying on the ground during the entirety of the conversation between Hans and Elsa. After the blow to her head, she could barely even sit up or move any of her limbs. Everything about her just seemed so heavy. Not to mentioned everything around her looked like one giant fog. Despite all this, she had heard the deal made between her sister and Hans.

She didn't care what kind of deals were made, nobody deserved what Hans was doing. And she couldn't let Elsa sacrifice herself like that. Especially not for her. She had to do something.

It took all of her strength to get herself into a sitting position, but she managed. Then she used the dumpster to hoist herself up onto her feet. She looked over at Hans and Elsa. Hans was all over her and Elsa was just standing there, taking it. Anna had to look away.

When she did, her eyes fell in line with the dumpster she was leaning against and she saw its contents. A glass bottle was just within grabbing distance. She picked it up and turned back around.

Hans was pulling at Elsa's sweater now and working at her neck. She had her eyes closed, like she was just trying to shut everything out. Anna struggled to move forward. She now realized that her shoulder was hurt as well.

Hans spun Elsa around and pushed her against the same wall he previously had Anna pinioned to. Anna clutched the bottle tightly and crept closer. Neither of them even noticed her. Anna raised the bottle above her head and brought it smashing down right onto Hans's head.

He immediately froze up, and Elsa opened her eyes, confused. Suddenly Hans teetered in place for a moment before crumpling to the ground, unconscious.

Anna stood clutching to the broken bottle while Elsa stood still flattened against the wall, both staring down at Hans's unconscious figure, stunned. Then they simultaneously looked up at each other, both sets of eyes brimming with tears. They both fell into each other's arms, hugging each other tightly.

"Anna!"

"Elsa!"

Elsa saw the blood flowing from the cut on Anna's forehead. "Oh, Anna," she said softly, "I am so sorry."

Anna reached up to it. "It's not so bad... is it?" she said, "The real question is, are _you_ OK?"

Elsa took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'll be fine," she said, "I mean, just give me a little bit to get my breath back and... whatever dignity I may have left."

Anna raised her eyebrows. "Elsa, that was one of the bravest things someone could do. I think you have plenty of dignity just for that."

Elsa gave a small, appreciative smile.

"Is that you, Anna?" a voice interrupted.

Elsa and Anna turned to look towards the voice. Kristoff and Sven stood not too far off. Anna waved them over. When they approached, Anna questioned, "How did you guys find us?"

"Oh, I texted them when I decided to follow you after you left my apartment," Elsa answered for them.

"How did... oh," Anna began, but then remembered that Kristoff had visited Elsa earlier that evening and they probably exchanged phone numbers.

Sven noticed Hans laying on the ground nearby. "What happened?" he asked.

"It's a long story," Elsa replied, "Right now, I need you to take care of Anna. She might have a concussion and she just needs general care and comfort. She's had a pretty traumatic night."

Elsa handed Anna over to Kristoff and Sven and then turned back to Hans on the ground. "I've got something to take care of," she said darkly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anna sat on the sofa in Kristoff and Sven's apartment, waiting patiently while Kristoff heated up water to soak a rag in. Sven had gone out to buy more hot chocolate powder upon discovering they were completely out when he had gone to make Anna a nice cup to make her feel better.

Kristoff finally came back, rag in hand, and sat next to her. He reached out and gently began dabbing at the gash on her forehead.

"I don't think you'll need stitches," he said after a moment, "It's really not that big. It's just been bleeding a lot."

Anna just watched him while he dabbed at the cut. There was such genuine tenderness and concern in his eyes. Something she never saw with Hans. With the knowledge she had now, Hans had never been genuine in anything, but even before she knew that, somehow looking back on the way he handled her, the way he spoke to her... there was just something lacking. Something truly tender. They never really had that true love connection.

But Kristoff, he had always treated her so nice and he was always so concerned about her. He even went and got her sister out of hiding for her. Why would he do that? Was he truly in love with her like Olaf had said?

"So you went to see Elsa?" Anna asked.

"Yeah. I got her address from Olaf," Kristoff replied, "You needed help and I thought that the one person you might listen to would be your sister. Of course, I had no idea she had a history with the slimeball, that was just a coincidence, but that just motivated her even more to come on our side."

"Did she tell you the whole story?" Anna asked.

"No. She just said that he had used her and that the same thing would happen to you if it wasn't stopped," Kristoff replied.

Anna sighed. "I've been so stupid."

"No. _He's_ been stupid," Kristoff said, "No, I take it back. He's been a dirty rotten son-of-a-b****. You were just a victim here, it's not your fault."

Anna repressed a smile. "You're so sweet," she said.

Kristoff smirked. "Don't over-estimate me."

"No I mean it," she said, "You've always been so nice to me. You help me in math, you make me feel better when I'm sad, you take me out for milkshakes..."

She looked up into his eyes. "Why are you so nice to me?"

He swallowed hard, stopping dabbing at the cut for a moment, but still keeping his hand resting on her forehead as he tried to form his words. "You're a great person," he answered, beginning to dab once more, "You deserve to be treated properly."

Anna sighed. "I'm not sure that I do," she said, "I've just been bowing to his wishes for months. Just doing exactly what he did, doing everything his way. I never did anything on my own or for myself. I've got no real personality of my own."

"What are you talking about?" Kristoff asked, incredulous, "You are wonderful, and fun, and smart, and caring, and funny, and beautiful, and..."

His words were suddenly cut off because Anna leaned forward and planted a kiss firmly on his lips. He froze, processing what exactly was happening. After a moment, she pulled back and he could clearly see tears in her eyes. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"No. It's just..." Kristoff looked down, his hand still holding the rag to her forehead. "I uh... I know you're upset and you've been through a lot tonight," he said, quietly, "But I don't want you to do something you may regret."

"No, Kristoff," Anna whispered back, resting a hand on his shoulder, "For the first time in forever, I think this is something in my life I _won't_ regret."

He looked up at her again, eyes round. She leaned forward once more and gently kissed him again. Kristoff's eyes shut and he gave into her kiss. For weeks he had dreamed of kissing her, to take her in his arms like this, but now to actually, finally be doing it... it was too good to be true. Her lips felt so perfect and soft against his, he never wanted it to end.

She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and he responded in kind by resting a hand behind her neck and the other around her waist, pulling her closer. The rag fell to the floor, quite forgotten as they fell back against the couch.

They did not even notice Sven open the door with a grocery bag in hand, see the spectacle on the sofa, and then slowly back out again, a small smile on his lips, quietly closing the door behind him.


	18. A New Life

The sun was out at last after days of gray clouds and it reflected down onto the snow, making everything seem absolutely magical. Anna skipped through a particularly large snow drift, scattering glittering particles in all directions. "Isn't snow great!?" she cried happily.

Kristoff plowed along behind her and couldn't help smiling at her antics. "Watch out, you might slip," he said.

"Me? Slip?" Anna gave an exaggerated scoff as she twirled in placed, "I don't think-"

Her feet suddenly slid right out from beneath her and she fell flat on her behind with an "oof!". Kristoff skidded over to her and knelt beside her. "Are you OK?" he asked.

Anna groaned slightly. "Yeah, just a tender tailbone," she said as Kristoff helped her to her feet, "I'll be fine."

Kristoff stared at her as he held her. The cut on her head was just beginning to heal and other traces of bruises and beatings were disappearing as well. Kristoff blinked, trying to erase those horrible memories from his mind. She was here, safe and with him, away from that monster.

He realized he was still holding onto Anna, arms wrapped around her. Funny how things like that can escape your notice. But she did not even seem to mind as she gazed up at him, the tiniest hint of a smile on her lips. Suddenly her face dropped. "Oh!" she cried.

"What? What happened?" Kristoff asked, concerned he had done something.

"I'm supposed to meet Elsa in a few minutes," Anna said, "I was going to take her to lunch."

Kristoff raised and eyebrow. "You convinced her to come to lunch?"

"Yeah! I know, isn't it great?" Anna said enthusiastically, grinning. She grabbed his hand and began to pull him along, "Come on!"

She was actually quite strong and very fast for one so small. Kristoff found himself stumbling over his feet several times as he trailed after her. They reached Elsa's apartment in good time though. Anna promptly knocked on the door.

After a moment, they heard it unlatching and it opened. "Anna?" came Elsa's voice.

"Yes! Elsa, you promised," Anna said, "Come on, let's go!"

Elsa sighed. "Alright," she said after a moment, "Just... give me a minute to grab my things."

She shut the door, leaving Anna and Kristoff standing in the doorway. A minute passed... then two. Kristoff glanced at Anna. "Are... are you sure she's coming?" he asked.

"Of course!" Anna declared optimistically, "She said she was and I believe her!"

Although feeling skeptical himself, Kristoff was glad to see that Anna was healing from the dark pit she had fallen into. She was returning to her old ways of boundless optimism and enthusiasm, and it was wonderful.

Finally, the door opened and Elsa appeared, wrapped up in her trench coat and holding a small bag. "Ready?" she asked.

Anna grinned. "Yep! Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"See? That wasn't so bad," Anna said as she, Elsa, and Kristoff exited the restaurant.

"You threw your mashed potatoes at that guy across the aisle," Kristoff said.

"Well he was being provocative," Anna said crossing her arms and sniffing.

"You screamed at the guy sitting behind us about being a porno freak," Elsa pointed out.

"He had it coming!" Anna said, "None of those guys should be treating you like that! I'm determined to turn your life back to normal."

Elsa smiled slightly. "Thanks," she said, "But you don't..."

"Of course I do. Just because that sleazeball scumbag ruined your life, it doesn't mean it can't be fixed," Anna said, "I know we can do it together."

Elsa gave a wide smile and wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulder in a hug. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Speaking of that sleazeball scumbag," Kristoff spoke up, "I haven't even seen him around since, you know... that night."

Elsa smiled smugly. "I know. He may be getting what's coming to him at last... I contacted his father."

Anna and Kristoff looked at her, shocked. "What?" Anna asked, "How did you do that?"

"I told you, I did my research while I've been locked away," Elsa replied, "I found out Ambassador South is a real stickler to social graces and making a good impression for their country. We'll see how he takes it when he finds out what his youngest son has been doing. However, he's been going back and forth between Norway and other places for the past couple years and it's been difficult to know when he would be around. So I haven't been able to get ahold of him, but now..."

She smirked, almost devilishly. Anna and Kristoff glanced at each other, impressed. They continued walking.

They reached campus and immediately they heard a voice calling them. "Anna! Kristoff!"

They saw Sven coming towards them. He stopped beside them. "Oh hi, Elsa," he said.

Elsa gave a small wave and Sven looked back at Anna and Kristoff. "What's up, Sven?" Kristoff asked.

"I was wondering if any of you knew why Hans was packing up all his stuff into boxes?" Sven asked.

"He's _what?"_ Anna cried.

"Yeah. I was just walking back from downtown and I passed by his place. There's a whole bunch of boxes in front," Sven continued, "I mean, yeah, they could've been someone else's, but then I saw him carrying another one from out of his apartment."

Anna frowned. "Come on," she said to everybody and began to march off.

Everyone shrugged at one another and followed after her. She headed all the way down to Hans's apartment, where sure enough there were stacks of boxes. Anna stood, staring in confusion until her friends caught up with her. She spotted Hans stepping out of his apartment and beginning to come down the stairs, a large box in hand. She began to feel her blood boil at the sight of him.

"You know," she said, "I never really did get to give that guy a piece of my mind."

She began to move forward, but Kristoff grabbed her shoulder. "Whoa, wait," he said, "Are you sure? I mean, you've seen how nasty he can get."

"I know," Anna said, "I can handle him."

"Alright, but I'll be standing right here," Kristoff said slightly uneasy, removing his hand.

Anna marched towards Hans who had reached the bottom of the stairs and was now setting his box beside some of the others. She approached him and he looked up at her. "Anna?" he asked confused, standing up straight in order to face her, "What are you doing here?"

Anna just frowned at him. Then without warning, she drew back her fist and sent it straight into his face, hard. "That's for me!" she shouted. He stumbled back, groggily. Before he had a chance to recover, she reared back and pounded her fist into his face once more with even more force than the first time. "That's for _my sister!"_ she cried.

As he moaned in pain, clutching at his nose as it gushed blood, Anna picked up her knee and shoved it firmly into his crotch with as much vehemence as possible. He collapsed to the ground, now practically wailing in pain. "And that's for everyone else, you bastard," Anna told him softly.

She held her head high and simply turned away from the moaning, pitiful mess on the ground and headed back towards her friends. They were all staring at her, wide-eyed and jaws dropped.

Anna cleared her throat and brushed some hair out of her face. "Well uh, I think his nose is probably broken and um... he'll definitely not be the same downstairs anymore."

They continued to gape at her, then all of a sudden, one by one they each broke into grins.

"Oh my... can I just kiss you right now?" Sven asked.

"Back off, slick. She's taken," Kristoff said, smiling and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"But a hug will do," Anna said, raising her eyebrows and smiling.

At that, Sven came towards her and they met halfway in a hug, giggling. They suddenly felt another pair of arms joining them. Anna looked and saw Elsa with her arms wrapped around her, smiling equally large. Anna beamed and then turned to look at Kristoff who was standing off to the side, watching.

"Kristoff," she said, "Group hug!"

Kristoff raised his hands slightly. "Oh no, I..."

"Come on, ya big grump!" Sven said.

Before Kristoff could react, Anna had reached out, grabbed the front of his coat, and pulled him into the circle of arms. He went with it and even began to laugh himself.

"Ooh! Group hug? Let me in!"

They all became aware of another small set of arms pushing their way into their hug. They all turned to look and saw Olaf standing in the midst of them, happily. Everyone stepped back.

"Olaf," Anna said, smiling at him.

"Hi, guys!" Olaf said, "What are we doing?"

"Oh well, we were just watching a marvelous performance by Anna as she beat the crap out of jerk-wad Hans over there," Sven said, pointing gleefully.

Olaf looked and saw Hans struggling to his feet, still clutching his groin with one hand and wiping at the blood that was flowing from his nose with the other. Olaf gasped. "Anna, you did that?" he asked.

Anna nodded. "Yep."

"What are all the boxes for?" Olaf asked.

"He's moving back to Norway," Anna replied.

"What?" everyone asked simultaneously, looking at Anna.

"I saw it written on the boxes," Anna replied, "They're all addressed to somewhere in Norway, I can only assume it's his home. And I saw some suitcases over there too, not just boxes. He's leaving as well, not just his stuff. He's moving back to Norway to his family."

"Hmm," Elsa said, looking at Hans once more as he limped up the stairs into his apartment and disappeared, "Well I'm sorry for Norway."

Everyone was so distracted with Hans that they did not even notice that Olaf had someone else with him. A girl to be exact. Anna was the first to notice her, however.

"Olaf?" Anna asked, nudging her friend and gesturing to the girl standing awkwardly to the side.

"Oh!" Olaf cried and he ran over to the girl, "Everyone, this is Summer. The lovely girl who's going with me to the Winter Ball." He grinned proudly. "I told you I could find somebody. And this girl is wonderful!"

"Hi!" Summer said, giving a little wave and smiling. She had intense blue eyes and chubby red cheeks framed by bright, golden hair. She wasn't really any taller than Olaf and had the same childish look about her.

"Hi, Summer! It's great to meet you," Anna greeted her, then she paused as she remembered, "Oh yeah, the ball. That's this Saturday... and I guess my date is kind of moving to Norway." She looked up and Kristoff with a half a smile and hopeful eyes. "I don't suppose _you_ know anybody who could help me out with that?"

Kristoff smiled down at her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wow, look at this place!" Anna declared.

She and Kristoff entered the dance, arm in arm. It was like a winter wonderland. Although the place was beautiful, Kristoff was more blown away by the girl at his side. She had managed to get her hands on a dress in time, a simple, green, off-the-shoulder one with a black bodice, and she had her hair pulled back into an elegant bun. The cut on her forehead was barely even visible and all other cuts and bruises were gone save the gauze that was still wrapped around her wrist, but it was hardly noticeable. She could easily be the most stunning sight in the room... and she was his date. He could hardly believe _that_.

"There you guys are! We were beginning to wonder."

They both turned to see Elsa, Sven, and Olaf and Summer approaching them. Olaf's bowtie and waistcoat were color-coordinated with Summer's orange dress. Sven actually made an attempt to tame his wild mass of mangled hair and almost looked dapper in the tuxedo that he managed to get his hands on. Elsa was breathtaking. With her sparkling sky-blue dress with sheer snowflake-patterned sleeves. She even had small snowflakes interwoven into her hair.

"I see you're keeping with the theme?" Kristoff remarked, gesturing to Elsa.

Elsa shrugged. "Hey, I had the dress and I thought why not accessorize for the occasion?"

Anna nodded. "She's a really good seamstress, you know."

"Well I wouldn't know about that..." Elsa said.

"And you guys all look really great too," Anna said to the others.

They all smiled at her. Elsa suddenly sniffed the air. "Mmm, what is that amazing smell?" she asked.

Anna sniffed as well. "Chocolate!" they said at the same time and then giggled.

"I don't know about you, but I am going to go get some of that chocolate," Elsa said.

"OK," Anna said, "Hey, bring me some!"

Elsa headed over to the refreshments table and found it covered in all sorts of goodies. She reached out to take one of the truffles, but someone stepped in her way. A boy about her age. He grinned down at her.

"Hey, aren't you...?" he began, then he nodded as he looked closer at her, "You are!"

He called to a couple of guys standing nearby. "Hey, guys! Look, it's the Ice Queen."

Elsa felt her stomach drop at the mention of that name. The two other boys approached her and peered at her. "Are you sure?" one of them asked, "It's kind of hard to tell from this angle."

He suddenly grabbed her and forced her to turn around. Elsa cried out, but was unable to fight back. "Yep. That's her," the guy said.

He released her and Elsa straightened up. She held her head high and tried to walk away. "Wait! Queeny!" one of them called after her, "We want to ask you something!"

"Yeah, about your technique!" another one said as they caught up to her, "You looked pretty solid for most of it, but if you want you practice a little more on me..."

Elsa just curled up against herself and tried to keep walking, but the boys's taunts just kept coming. She shut her eyes, trying to shut it out.

Suddenly, it all stopped. She opened her eyes and looked around. She saw one of the most enormous boys she had ever seen in her life holding not one, but two of the harassing boys up off the ground by their collars. He was scowling at them ferociously.

"You leave her alone, you hear?" he boomed in a deep voice, "You come near her again and I'll rip your heads off!"

He dropped the boys onto the ground. They immediately scrambled to their feet and took off running into the crowd of people. Elsa looked up (like way, way up) at the boy who had saved her. "Thank you," she said.

"I don't like to see anyone get pushed around like that," the boy replied.

"Yes... Well, thanks again," Elsa said.

"I'm Marshall," the boy said, "But most people call me Marshmallow."

"Marshmallow?" Elsa asked.

He leaned down to her level. "I'm really not as scary as I look," he muttered, "But don't let that get too far."

Elsa smiled and stuck out her hand. "OK. Glad to meet you then, Marshmallow. I'm Elsa."

"Do you often get bothered like that?" Marshmallow wondered.

"Um, well..." Elsa stammered, "I suppose. Erm... a bit. Yes."

Marshmallow straightened up. "Miss Elsa, with your permission, I would happily like to fend off any miscreants that come your way and try to bother you."

"Oh no, really you don't have to. I can cope," Elsa said, "I have my sister and..."

"I can help you. It would be my pleasure," Marshmallow said, "I can just stand in front of you and glare at any suspicious character that comes your way."

Elsa smiled. "Oh alright, you've convinced me," she said, "But only if you really want to."

"Sounds like a deal, Miss Elsa." And they shook on it, smiling.

Meanwhile a slow song had started on the dance floor. Anna enthusiastically dragged Kristoff into the center claiming "I've never had a slow dance before!". Although Kristoff could have sworn she had once been raving about Hans taking her dancing before and he suspected this was only a ploy to get him on the dance floor.

However, he would have come out with her, ploy or not, because it was Anna. Despite the fact that he himself had never had a slow dance before (at least with no one outside his family), he made a valiant attempt to not trip over his own feet. But soon, he managed to find his footing and they were spinning slowly round and round, arms around each other.

Anna had her head resting against Kristoff's chest. She let out a small sigh. Kristoff looked down at her. "What?" he asked.

"We can start our new lives now," she said softly.

"Yeah," Kristoff agreed.

They continued to spin in silence for a moment. Then Anna spoke up again, "We can start over with school, we can start over with people. We can have a whole new life... with reindeers!

Kristoff chuckled. ""Reindeers"?" he repeated.

"Yeah. Don't you want some reindeers?" Anna asked.

"It's reindeer," Kristoff said, "No "S"."

"You started that!" Anna declared.

"And now I'm ending it," Kristoff said, smirking.

"You can't do that! It's part of your identity now, sorry," Anna said, sticking her nose in the air.

Kristoff smiled, amused at her determined resolve. "So are you," he said.

Anna looked up at him and he suddenly realized how that sounded. "What I mean is... if you want. Er... if you're ready. No!... It's not like I'm asking you to marry me or anything!... Not that I wouldn't want to. Not that I'm thinking about that already... What I'm trying to say is..."

"You are too."

Kristoff stopped babbling and looked down at Anna. "What?"

"You are too," Anna said again, her eyes glowing, "A part of my identity now. You are too."

The corner of Kristoff's mouth tweaked up. He never would have thought when he met this amazing girl just a few short months ago that she would actually end up being one of the most important things in his life. She had been through so much, suffered so many hardships, but now like she had said, it was time to start a new life.

Kristoff bent down and planted a kiss firmly on her mouth. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her closer. A new life she has found.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_And that's that! Phew! *wipes brow* I'm kinda sad it's over, what will I do in my spare time now? __Anyways, as a bonus, someone recommended me to a fanmade Frozen video to the song that inspired this fanfic. It's AMAZING! No, it wasn't made because of the fanfic, nor did I write the fanfic because of the video. Both are made because of the song. The link is on my page if you want to check it out._


End file.
